Volume 1 Chapter 19: Count the Spoils

(Walson)

It will take two more hours for the sky to grow dark, which is when I will need to return to the other children.

... Oh, since we are on the subject of time, I wanted to mention that this world calculates time differently. Half an hour is one 'time unit', which can be recorded with a special magic.

Imagine how ticks work inside Minecraft and are differentiated from real life time, except this time it's half an hour being counted as a tick.

The name of the time unit isn't actually ticked though.

I still have my [Mini-map] which has the 24-hour time function built into it, which is how I can get a grasp of the time so quickly.

Back on Earth, it's usually sundown around six. But in this world it's seven. Not really a big deal, since all one needs to do is grow used to it. I personally think it's similar to "having more daylight in summer and less in winter" kind of situation.

Anyway! Before we head back to the Orphanage, I wanted to take both Grace and Melon back to the secret base first.

We ended up killing a total of 35 wasps.

Aside from the obvious honey, there was also quite a lot of reusable stuff we could salvage, such as the twenty-seven bee stingers plus one gigantic queen stinger.

Additionally, there's also sixty insect wing membranes, four of them being from the gigantic queen.

I should find some time to study these materials. Their quality shouldn't be anything to scoff at since they came from advanced monsters.

Melon managed to learn a skill called [Physical Reinforcement] in this venture.

Technically it's a magic spell that is not labeled under any element. More on the elemental topic later though.

As long as this skill is active, it will continuously drain and consume mana.

Since the skill is only LV1 - she did only learn it today after all - the boost is very meager.

... But after coming to the base, and asking her to practice on the wooden dummies while activating [Physical Reinforcement] left me quite speechless. It took only a few hits before the wooden dummy laid in pieces.

Maaaaybe it was because the durability has already been worn down, but seriously, this dummy is practically new! It's only been on duty for a whole week!

But after using the [Stone Tablet of Appraisal], something was clarified to me.

Melon's attack stats are abnormally high, somewhere around double of mine.

... And she is 12 levels below me!?

Is this the difference between a [Fighter] and a [Villager]? Aaaah, feels bad man!

... So it was with a heavy heart that I eliminated the doubts I had before.

"Melon, this is a new dummy. Or rather, it's an [Iron Dummy]?" I set the new "Iron" dummy on the ground.

In terms of structure and function, it is the mirror of the wooden dummy. Except it is made out of my "Black Iron".

"Master... you really didn't need to do this for me..."

"But I did. Therefore, in order for my efforts to not be in vain, do your best and hit this as hard as you can, OK?" Maybe I could write a training journal, recording how many dummies Melon destroy in the future, and using that as a unit to measure one's progress. Ha!

Ha... Ha...

Currently three dummies have died. How many more will she slaughter...? Just kidding.

(Years later when I look back and think about this, I cringed at how I made a "flag" here.)

And so, with the objective of training her MP capacity and increasing skill level in mind, I had Melon practice with the dummies with [Physical Reinforcement] constantly in use.

Next up is Grace.

Today she learned the teleportation skill that is unique to the [Endermen] species, known as the [Ender~Dimension Leap].

Father Marbon managed to conceal any information pertaining Grace's status as an [Endermen] and also hid her true stats. But if Grace is willing, one could use the [Stone Tablet of Appraisal] to take a look.

Or maybe someone with a skill like [Clear Eyes] would be able to see through the illusion that Marbon has made.

I digress. Back to the [Enderman].

In this world, spells that are related to space/dimension travel are all big and flashy, requiring long chants and large mana costs. It's not that they are a rarity where it's very hard to find, since some of the big cities do big transportation with Mass-Teleport. But more likely, it is completely impractical to use this in combat.

And also, one needs the talent and affinity to learn this kind of magic. So despite the fact that it's not too rare, it's not common either.

Not common enough for me to have seen anyone use this kind of magic, at least.

But, the [Ender~Dimension Leap] has no mana cost, needs no incantation, and can be used by Grace whenever she wishes.

There is a cool down of 0.5 seconds, basically a blink of an eye. The range limit is 128 meters.

This opens up soooo many possibilities for Grace. She can repeatedly teleport around the field, hitting and running like a phantom.

... My gawd. Mama-mia, this is such a cheat-worthy skill.

Also, she has managed to learn a passive skill called [Chorus Seed] along with an active skill called [Chorus Bloom].

In this world, if you learn a skill without ever having been able to use it before, then the [Stone Tablet of Appraisal] will not be able to provide any information for you. We could not use it to gain information on what these two skills can do.

[Chorus Flower] is a kind of flower that grows in The End in Minecraft. A place that is filled to the brim with Endermen and other Ender-related creatures.

Didn't think that this would actually become a skill though.

Let's test that skill in the future. It's gotta be another cheater skill anyway... *grumble grumble*

"...Walson, here." Grace reached a hand towards the back of her neck, and proceeded to untie the necklace she has always worn with her.

It's her Ender-pearl necklace. I remember it's just a thin cord plus an ender-pearl.

But I did a double take, since there was suddenly a SECOND ender-pearl on the necklace. Eh!? Eh!?

We quickly took a look with the [Stone Tablet of Appraisal], and determined that this necklace is an augmented equipment that can grow with the user, something more often known as [Growth Equipment].

It's a piece of equipment that could grow as long as the user keeps growing. I heard that the elves are the most renowned owners of this kind of equipment.

Elves as a race, hold a racial skill called [Elvenise] short for "Elvenisation". It's a skill that can turn the item into their own personal [Growth Equipment].

But this skill can only be used once per lifetime.

For example, there was an Elven Archer who found a bow he really liked. By using [Elvenise] on the bow, the bow turns into his personal weapon that grows stronger along with him.

[Growth Equipment] is really an interesting topic. I read it in a book, but never thought I would see one with my own eyes.

In Grace's case, as long as she keeps growing, the necklace seems to create more Ender-pearls in a manner that is similar to Cell Division.

What was originally thought to be a decoration quickly became so much more than that as we started testing.

Surprisingly, it wasn't as similar to the Ender-pearls from Minecraft as I thought it would be.

In fact, these Ender-pearls seem to act like a "Waypoint".

As was mentioned before, Grace's teleportation range limit is 128 meters. But with the pearls, it can be exceeded.

No matter how far away she is, she can choose to teleport to where the pearl is. So let's say she is across the country and she wants to go home. If there was a pearl inside her home, she could instantly return.

But someone who isn't Grace can still use the pearl, it just functions differently. I can throw the pearl, and I end up teleporting to where the pearl landed, just like in Minecraft. Except, the pearl instantly returns to my hand, so it can be used repeatedly.

Wow, this thing could cause a revolution.

"... Here, the spare, you have it." Grace took the new pearl and handed it to me.

... It feels like Grace is trying to tell me something? This doesn't feel like an ordinary gift.

Anyway, I accepted it with gratitude.

__________________________

As everyone sat in a loose circle on the ground, we organized the things and reviewed our performance today.

I questioned Grace about her use of magic.

The speed of the [Razor Wind] spell can be affected by the air and wind, therefore making it easier for nimble opponents to dodge. And when I saw that the [Shadow Arrow] flew much quicker, I really wondered why didn't Grace use something like a [Shadow Cutter] spell.

But then Grace told me more about magic in general. The incantation is basically an instruction for the spirits in the atmosphere, or it can be said as a blue-print woven with words and then given to the spirits to build.

Almost all magical incantations that were passed down are "Unthinking" incantations.

Think of it like trying to order food with a different language. You memorized the words, but have no idea what the words mean. Then you list down the steps of making the food in that language, to the chef that only understands the other language.

Try and think of "I want a cookie with chocolate chips baked inside the oven for thirty minutes then cooled on the tray" in a different language.

Now try "I want fire shaped in a ball sent towards my target swiftly".

In order to 'modify' spells, one needs to deepen their understanding of the spirit's language. The vocabulary and grammar are just two of the many obstacles to magic.

It is also the hardest thing to teach when it's related to magic though. Which is why incantations are still memorized and not structurally created letter by letter from the spirit alphabet.

Not only do you not really know what the incantation will produce, you also have to watch out for your mana. If you don't have enough mana for a spell that you don't understand, dangerous things might happen.

"... Uhm, I thought I heard someone say that 'Imagination is Magical' before?" I thought back to several quotes inside books I have read while on Earth.

"... I like that way of thinking. Will study more." Grace gave me a decisive nod. I have confidence in her, she will definitely make it work somehow. If anyone could do it, it would be Grace.

So, by beating enemies that have higher levels than ours was a great way to increase our levels. Today was a great success.

But... the strongest enemies around the forests and mountains are all around level forty or so. If we keep getting stronger, it will also mean making it harder to go higher.

I have been stuck on LV25 for two whole months. I finally made it to LV26 today.

Watching the sky slowly darken, I quickly grabbed Grace and made our way back to the Orphanage.

Of course I didn't forget to grab the big bag of slime balls and slime cores on my way out! What do you think I am? An idiot?

I think I brought around a hundred or so? I thought that it would have been a good number to bring.

But it turns out the other children all got less than ten.

... How unfortunate... for me...

Mitty, the idiot that was two years older than the both of us, said something like "You relied on Grace" and whatnot, challenging me for a duel.

I took care of him, and that's about it.