Trinitas Mundus - Episode 9

　Ray and Ashley began to collect the magic stones from the seven lizardmen.

　Ashley put her hand on the lizardman’s heart and mumbled something to it. Then her hand began to glow, and a green treasure ball about one centimeter in diameter slowly emerged from the lizardman’s body.

(Can I do it?　But I’ll have to try to know.)

　He prepared himself and put his hand on the dead lizardman’s chest with white eyes.

　The sight of it brought back the sensation of spearing it and the guilt of having killed a living being.

(I killed it. …… Was this the right thing to do?　Even if it’s for my own survival, …… no. This is not Japan. If I get caught up in my own common sense, not only will it harm me, but it will harm everyone around me. …… In fact, I endangered Ashley’s life. …… I have to be strong… …)

　He decided to abandon the common sense of Japan, the common sense he had lived by for 18 years.

(But is it really possible to do that? ……)

　He changed his mind and decided to concentrate on retrieving the magic stone.

　As he put his hand on the cold lizardman corpse – a corpse that he didn’t know if it was cold to begin with or if it became cold when he died – and began to concentrate on it, a soft light leaked from his hand.

　Gradually, the light became stronger, and a green jewel with a diameter of one centimeter began to emerge.

　”Got it!” He couldn’t help but shout.

　The two of them split up and collected the magic stones from seven of them. Lizardmen have no useful parts other than their skins, and their skins are scaly, making them difficult to process and in low demand.

　They decided to leave the lizardman’s corpse alone and went straight back to the lake.

　They reached the shore of the lake, but still had almost two hours before the fisherman Coda would pick them up.

　Ashley looked at her body as she

“It’s stained with lizardman blood. I’ll wash my armor and sword, and you keep watch.”

　He had been fighting with a spear, so he had hardly gotten any blood on him, but she had gotten a lot of blood on her. He suggests that there is something he can do.

“I can clean it up with clean magic, but not the….body, just the sword and armor….“

　Ray suggested that.

“You should conserve your magic. It’s only the sword and armor, so it won’t take long.”

“I use very little magic. Besides, the smell of blood attracts monsters, doesn’t it?　Then you’d better keep it as clean as possible. No, I want you to let me.”

　He bows his head and asks to help, hoping to make up for his earlier blunder.

　She decided to leave it to him then.

　As he imagined the cleansing magic, three colors of light – blue, gold, and silver light – enveloped her body. After about twenty seconds, the light weakened, and the blood and dirt on her body were cleanly gone.

　She witnessed the scene and rolled her eyes in amazement.

“It’s really clean. …… I could eat just teaching this magic!　I’d like to ask Ray to do that for the rest of my life. No, no, it’s nothing. ……“

　He was surprised at the last word, “What?” and at a loss for words.

　An awkward atmosphere flows between the two.

　As if to shake off the atmosphere, Ray spoke.

“I’m really sorry about earlier. It’s the first time I’ve seen a monster coming at me. It was so scary that it made lizardmen seem like dragons. ……“

　There were tears in his eyes. They were not tears from remembering his fear, but tears of frustration at his own inadequacy.

“I’ll never do that again!　I swear. I’d rather …… than let you look at me like that.“

　As she watched him.

(He really has lost his memory, hasn’t he?  It’s true that the first time I fought a monster one-on-one, I was terrified. …… That was when I was eight years old, and it was the first time I fought a goblin. When I think about it, I can’t help but understand Ray’s fear. …… Huh, I really think I have a soft spot for him. ……)

“Don’t say another word. We’ll be taking down more requests tomorrow. Okay? And it’s a much stronger one.“

　He nodded broadly and changed the subject.

“I get it. But I want to practice magic to become even stronger. Can we do it somewhere? Preferably somewhere out of sight. ……“

　She looked at him, a little puzzled.

“I’m sure it wouldn’t be seen in the woods outside the city. …… Why should somewhere out of sight?“

　He began to speak carefully, as if choosing his words.

“I don’t think my magic is very common. Both my cleanse and storage spells were such a surprise. If I use a strange spell without realizing it, it will stand out in a bad light. I don’t want that to happen. …… Is that weird?“

“I see. That’s true, too. Let’s find someplace inconspicuous on the way back from the request.”

　It was then that he remembered that his right ear hurt.

　He asks Ashley, “Do you know what healing magic is?”

“I’ve heard that healing magic draws on the spirits of light, water and wood, but I don’t know much about it. I’ve had a healing spell of light fix me up before ……, but I held my hand over the wound and it healed while I was surrounded by light, so I’m not sure.“

　He wondered if that was still the case, so he held out his hand to his ear and tried to cast a spell, imagining the activation of his cells.

　He couldn’t see it well himself, but the light seemed to envelop the affected area, and it gradually became warmer then the pain disappeared.

“Is it healed?　Can you take a look?”

　Ashley looked at him in surprise and hurried to check his ear.

“It’s healed. He can also use healing magic. …… He’s looking more and more likely that you’re a holy knight. ……”

　She muttered to herself, but he could hear her because she was near his ear.

“What do you mean?　Just because I’m a holy knight, I have a light attribute or because I’m ……“

“I’ve only heard rumors, but I’ve heard that holy knights are better at healing magic than attacking magic. Well, I’ve heard that they shoot ‘arrows of light’ from horseback instead of bows, but I haven’t heard rumors that they use them that much.”

　He wondered why and what, but there was too little information to come up with an answer.

(Is it hard to balance magic and swords? I don’t remember setting it up that way…..)

　In his setting, there were supposed to be a magic swordsman who used fire magic and an elven warrior who used wind magic.

“Maybe there aren’t too many Magic Swordsmen who use magic?“

“That’s right. It’s not that there aren’t any, but I’ve never heard of a magic swordsman with more than top-notch skills in both. I’ve heard that magic can be used very infrequently without the aid of a wand or other magical tool, so I’d say that a magician would only use a sword for self-defense. Except for the elves, it seems.“

(I think I’ve figured it out. Image is the key to magic in this world. If the image is unclear, the fuel consumption is inefficient, so the amount of magic power consumed is high. The reason why there are so few magic swordsmen is because they use tools that increase their efficiency, such as wands. As long as you don’t have a weapon that increases the efficiency of magic, it’s hard to have both. Well, if you have a talent for a certain attribute, like elves, the fuel consumption problem is solved. …… I need to be extra careful with my magic practice.)

　As we were talking about this, two hours passed quickly and Coda came to pick us up. He was surprised to hear that we had already defeated the lizardmen, and his cat ears perked up.

“Have you already defeated them?　Then get on the boat.”

　When they return to the village of Rattray, they go to the village chief Kieran, show him the magic stone, and tell him that the request has been completed.

　The village chief did not expect the two of them to finish the job in just three hours, and his round eyes grew even rounder with surprise.

　With the magic tool in the village chief’s house, they wrote on the orb that the request was complete and decided to return to the city of Malton.

　It was only two o’clock in the afternoon, and even if they went back to the city, they would be at the guild before three in the afternoon.

　Since they had time, they searched for a place to practice the magic they were talking about earlier.

　They follow the road until they are close to the city, and then enter the forest to the east of the city.

　After about ten minutes of walking with the horses in tow, they found a depression in the ground.

“I think we’re good here. Ashley, I’m sorry, but could you keep an eye on things for me?“

　She immediately agreed and headed towards the top of the depression.

　Check it and

(Now, which magic should I practice? Anyway, I should probably concentrate on magic that I can use reliably so as not to drag Ashley down. In order to do so, I should master the light attribute and practice the earth and wood attributes for surprise attacks. Start with the light attribute. ……)

　He summons the “Spear of Light” which he throws at the lizardman.

　He throws it towards the slope of the depression, but the speed is slower than he imagined and the power is not as strong as he expected.

(The size of the Spear of Light is fine, the problem is its speed and power. How can I increase the speed? …… Wait, do I need to make it a spear of light in the first place?　The standard beam weapons are beam rifles and laser cannons. There’s no need to make it in the form of a spear, is there?)

　He turned to the spirits of light and ordered them to gather, and then decided to shoot out the gathered light instantly.

　He thrust his left hand forward and began to collect the light. After a minute or so of gathering the light, he shoots it forward.

　There was a thunderous “crunching” sound, and a small hole appeared on the slope.

(Did it focus too much and make a noise when it cut through the air?　It can be used almost like a gun, but its weakness is that it takes a long time to focus. I wonder if I could shorten the time by making it a little less powerful.)

　After several attempts, it was found that if the power was reduced, it would not fire, and a minute or so of focusing time was needed.

(It’s more like a lightning raft than a laser cannon. I’m not sure what the range is, but it looks like it will fly at least 50 meters. I’m not sure if I can aim it or not, but …… would be hard to improve it any further. Let’s see if it’s possible to track and homing with light arrows.)

　He produced an arrow of light about 30 cm long and shot it out toward the slope. Although it was faster than a spear of light, it was only as fast as an ordinary arrow.

(Does it depend on the image?　A spear is the speed of a javelin thrown, an arrow is the speed from a bow, and lightning is the speed of light. …… I’ll have to be a little more creative than that. ……)

　He created the arrow of light again, this time imagining the tracking function.

　He tried to imagine it as a missile rather than an arrow, so although the initial speed was slower, it felt like it was accelerating and the final speed was faster.

　It seems to extend the range more than if imagining an arrow, but it’s a narrow depression and it’s hard to tell how it actually is.

　As for the important tracking homing, it could change its trajectory a little, but it didn’t have enough maneuverability to be considered tracking.

(There’s room for improvement in tracking. Anyway, I wonder what it feels like physically to collect “light” and turn it into spears and arrows. Is it an image of the spirits of light gathering and becoming hard?　I’m not really understanding it…….)

　While thinking about this, he was about to manifest the arrow of light again when he suddenly felt dizzy and crouched down on the spot.

　Ashley saw what was happening and rushed over to him.

“Are you okay?　You were using quite a bit of magic, so I was worried about you…..”

　She looked worried, but he said, “Don’t worry. I just got a little dizzy,” he said, standing up immediately.

　Seeing this, she suggested that they go home for the day, and today’s training was over.

　Ashley was amazed to see his magic from the top of the slope.

(Even the best magician I’ve ever seen, the elven mage of Saltus, didn’t fire off this much magic in rapid succession. First a spear of light, then a series of lightning razors, and then an arrow of light that changes its trajectory. …… If you are targeted by that lightning, there is no way to avoid it. It’s going to be very hard to prevent those light arrows as well. …… Even so, to be able to launch them in such a short amount of time, …… is he really human?)

　As she thought about it, she wondered how many times he had surprised her in the past three days. Then a smile spontaneously appeared on her face.

(I’ve met a really interesting guy. I’ve been thinking of leaving this town because it’s been so unpleasant for a while now, but this will keep me occupied.)

　While she was thinking about this, she kept a watchful eye on her surroundings, but when she saw him about to collapse from lack of magic power, she hurriedly ran down the slope.

(Out of magic?　Did he lose his memory and lose track of his limits?　Or did he overwork himself to near the limit in order to become stronger? …… If my words made him want to become stronger, ……)

　According to what I heard from the magicians, using magic power to the extreme can be deadly. I also heard that in the case of large-scale magic, several magicians had lost their lives due to the use of magic power beyond the limit.

　She cursed herself for being so careless, and took him in her arms.

　Then, seeing him stand up and say that he was okay, she felt relieved, but also reminded herself that he had lost his memory.

　The magic that Ray activates is very efficient. This is thanks to the magic circle in his left hand, but the two of them, who were not familiar with magic, did not realize this.

　The magic is activated by transforming the power of the spirits into a form in the image of the magician in exchange for the magic power of the magician.

　Spirits are not highly intelligent beings, and in order to convey the magician’s image more accurately, it is necessary to make it easier for the spirit to understand.

　If you think of a spirit as a computer, it may be easier to understand.

　In order to make the computer, or “spirit,” work the way you want it to, you need a program, or “image”.

　This computer, or “spirit,” does not have a program resident in it, so it must be programmed from scratch, or “conveyed through images by spells”.

　If you can’t program it well, you will need to waste processing time = “magic power”.

　How can we simplify programming?

　The application software, or “magic circle,” should be built in from the beginning.

　The magic circle in Ray’s left hand was application software that could respond to each of the eight attributes, and his modern imagery combined with the versatility of that magic circle meant that his magical efficiency was several times that of a normal magician.

　The two of them left the forest and headed for the city.

　Ray was very tired, almost out of magic, but there was nothing else unusual about him. When they passed through the main gate and arrived at the guild, it was around four o’clock in the afternoon.

　With Ashley supporting Ray, they went to the counter to report the completion of the task together.

　The seven magic stones are put out on the counter, and they receive a reward of 70 C and 14 C for the magic stones.

　Of the adventurers who saw the exhausted Ray, those who knew it was his first request imagined on their own that the request had failed or that he had struggled.

　And those who didn’t know him looked mockingly at the sight of the big man in his gorgeous platemail leaning against the female warrior without any dirt on her.

　In the guild, there was some backbiting, such as “Seven lizardmen and that’s how  he is?” and “Didn’t the woman save him?” But they didn’t care and went back to the inn.

　Back at the inn, Ray managed to walk, but

(Running out of magic power is harsh. …… Oh, I wish I hadn’t denied the quantification of magic power. I’m pretty sure I didn’t set it up on purpose because it’s weird to know your magic and life force in digital values, and in extreme situations, you can exceed them. …… I want a magic gauge. …… )

　He fell asleep in his bed after dinner.

　After Ashley took Ray back to his room, she went back to the dining room and started drinking by herself.

(There’s so much going on today, I feel like I’m going crazy. I don’t know what I should do with him from now on. ……)

　She had been disappointed with his initial response regarding the lizardman battle and had intended to give up on him. Of course, she was going to take care of the man who had saved her life until he was able to stand on his own, but the initial excitement she had felt for him had quickly cooled.

　After that, he managed to fight, but that should not have changed that feeling.

　However, when speaking with him, she casually released the words, “If you want to stand beside me……” and all at once she lost her reasoning.

　Seeing his apology afterwards, and the way he desperately worked his magic, she changed her opinion of him again.

(I’d like to think it’s because he wants to be with me, but I can’t ask him. …… I wonder what the real reason is? It’s only been two days since we met ……. But what is this feeling?)

　She couldn’t help but feel overwhelmed by her feelings and drank a little more than usual.