Dark Spear

In a forest near a village, a young boy hid inside a bush. Rather than seeming like a country-boy who was simply playing hide-and-seek with his friend, he looked more like a battle-hardened mercenary of some sort, evident by the cold gaze in his eyes. In his line of sight, there were three green-skinned humanoid creatures walking around - they were goblins, all equipped with clubs. Behind those goblins, there was an opening in a mountain, a cave.

'They seem to be patrolling guards. Behind them should be what's called a goblin cave, I believe. My mission was clearly just to exterminate five goblins and bring back their ears as proof. Assuming there are a lot more goblins in the cave behind these guards, then it'll be difficult to deal with all of them, though... Then, in that case, how should I go with this?'

He frowned slightly until an idea shot through his mind. He began to slowly edge around the bush until he was behind a tree.

'Now, get the angle right. Line them all up... Then...' Alure pointed at the nearest goblin's head and coldly smiled.

"Dark Bolt."

Alure converged energy from his mana base into his finger, and then released it. Instantly, a stream of dark energy rushed towards the goblins. It flew through the head's of two, but then lost energy and then dispersed before it could reach the third. The last remaining goblin wasn't aware of what happened and was pitifully eliminated by Alure, who sneaked over with footsteps that were as loud as an ant's steps and sliced his blade from the sheath in one single motion. The boy reached into his pocket and retrieved a piece of cloth, which he used to wipe the blood off the blade, and then threw it away.

'Pity that I didn't have the opportunity to create a lifeforce-draining formation. Also, if it were possible, I would reanimate them as a minion. However, my soul is barely at the level of a normal person's, so I can't use my Necromancy arts.'

At this point in time, he stopped his train of thought and glanced at the direction of the cave.

'Enough of that. I have work to do.'

He headed into the dark place after retrieving a lamp from who-knows-where.

***

"Congratulations, F-tier Christopher! After 9 days, you have been promoted to E-Tier for your accomplishments: Elimination of 5 goblins, assist in the elimination of 3 orcs, assisting in the capture of a Venomous Griffinhawk, and scouting of a..."

A female clerk listed off Alure's accomplishment over a bit over a week, and smiled, "Please hand over your card."

Alure did so, and after she received it, the clerk left. After a few minutes, she returned with the same card, except for once difference - it now had a bronze rim.

The clerk began to explain, "The bronze rim represents an E-tier adventurer. At this point, an adventurer has divid-

'Sounds boring.'

Before she finished, Alure waved his hand and left the building. After about a dozen minutes, he reached his room and sat down on his bed, beginning to think,

'In the past 9 days, I've only been taking quests as an adventurer, without having done any research in my own time nor training my magic. However, in light of the upcoming tournament, the best idea would probably for me to start improving myself as quickly as I can. Now, what methods do I have?'

'1. I can train to improve the quantity of mana in my base, but that would be ineffective. At my current rate, it'll take me a few years to break through the next small realm. There'll probably be an increase in power for me if I do this, but it'll be one that I can't see.

2. I can start trying to mix sorcery into my current path of the Magi, but that would be dangerous. Currently, I'm still forming conjectures, and a clear method for me to do so hasn't formed. So that's also wiped off the list, unfortunately.

3. I can start learning spells. This one should give me the most short-term gains. Right now, my only offensive move is 'Dark Bolt', which is just a fancy way of describing a projection of mana after it's merely been converted to the 'darkness' element. At its current level, it's not even a spell. Then, which spell should I choose?'

The boy exhaled and scratched his head, 'High-grade and above spells are wiped off the list. Those cost too much mana to use, and even the lowest-cost high-grade spells will probably exceed the amount of mana I have. I'll just be able to execute mid-grade spells, but I'll be defenseless if I use them, so those won't do. Then, I'm only left with low-grade spells.'

Alure closed his eyes,

'Venomous Serpent Fog? No, since that's a poison-type Spell, it'll take a long time to fully show its effects. How about Darkflame? Perhaps, I won't wipe it off my list. Summon Undead Skeleton sounds fun, but since Necromancy doesn't exist in this world, I don't quite want to attract attention by using it just yet.'

He continued to think of what he had under his arsenal, and eventually landed on an old favorite of his: Dark Spear.

'The Darkness-element spell Dark Spear requires an intricate hand movement to summon, and even greater difficulty to handle. However, it is quite versatile - not only can it be launched towards an opponent at the speed of an arrow, but it can also be used as a melee weapon. Its firmness can be changed from that of mithril to something like liquid. Although, this my current density of mana, I'm unable to make it harder than a steel sword.'

Alure stood up and then tried to recall from his memories, mimicking the actions,

'If I recall correctly, the first step towards completing the spell is the body movements. First of all, I place my left foot backward by the length of the outer end of both my shoulders, facing 45 degrees. Then, I shift my left foot up by a bit. Then, what was it? Oh, yes, my hand forms this symbol. No, wait, do I move my arm up instead? No, that should be the art for the Blackfeather Wing Art. Then, was it the...'

For Alure to not remember all of his past memories, it was completely justified. The last time he had used this spell was dozens, perhaps even hundreds of years ago. Even if he did completely remember all the steps, without exceptions, the intricate and difficult body movements that took years for people to master weren't ingrained into Alure's current body.

'But, Dark Spear, huh? That brings back some memories...'

***

It was a bright and sunny day, thousands of years ago in a world different from the current one. White clouds moved like drifting leaves, being carried by the wind. On top of a mountain cliff, there were two people - a youth and an elder.

The youth was lying on the ground while staring at the sky. If there was one word that would fit him, it would be this:

Plain.

His facial features were extremely normal. He had black hair that was common, and a frame that wasn't muscular like a handsome model, nor lean like a pretty doll's. His eyes were laced with a slothful gaze that seemed completely natural for him.

On the other hand, contrasting with his look, the teacher was a strict-looking elder. His gray hair was already beginning to fall off, and his body looked as frail as a leaf in the storm, but his eyes had an unnaturally bright look to them.

"Boy, this is the fourth time that I've tried to explain this spell to you! Would you pay attention?! Even if it looks simple, 'Dark Spear' is a fundamental and useful that nearly all darkness-type Magi know!"

After a few seconds, the youth yawned and responded,

"Ah, but the environment is so beautiful today! Who wants to practice some stupid spell? I'll put in twice the amount of effort tomorrow to compensate, so calm down."

The elderly had obviously lost his temper, beginning to stride over towards his disciple with an impatient look in his eyes. However, just before as he was going to reach the youth, the elder frowned and spun around. In his vision, there was now a burly-looking middle-aged man with a pair of battle axes in each hand. Behind that man, there was a crowd of people that one could tell in an instant were up to no good.

Instantly, at the sight of these people, the elderly man's expression shifted into that of a terrified one.

"Impossible! Y-you were supposed to have died years ago! It'd be impossible for you to survive, unless... Unless!"

The elderly man seemed to think of something and backed away while shouting to his disciple,

"Run!"

The youth stared at the situation with quivering legs and a frozen expression. Before he could comprehend the situation, an arrow flew at him and pierced his head. The youth died, without even knowing what had hit him - literally.

Between the elderly man and his gang of opponents, a huge brawl ensued, ending with two injuries on the burly man's side, and complete annihilation on the other.

The middle-aged man laughed maniacally, "Today, I have had my revenge! The feud that lasted twelve years has resulted in my victory! Now, for the spoils..."

He rummaged through the old man's corpse until he reached a particular object.

"Pah, who would want a shitty low-grade magic grimoire like this one?!"

He laughed disdainfully and threw it towards his gang. A few of them felt a small desire, but inwardly thought something along the lines of,

'Boss'll probably kick us out of the gang if he 'inks that we 'r cheap enough to take the scroll. No, even 'fore that, he'll kill us since he 'ates magic.'

So, despite their temptations, they just made disdainful smiles and chose not to do anything.

After that, they all left the mountain, probably in pursuit of a brothel or something of the sort.

A few days passed. A few weeks. A few months. Although some passed by the body, most of them were too disdainful to rob a corpse like that.

Of course, there are always exceptions. During a dark night where lightning struck without abandon, a boy with a steel collar on his neck and brown rags for clothing chanced upon the corpse. His thought process was simple:

'I'm hungry. I need food. I need money to buy food.'

So, despite the terrible condition the corpse was in, he searched every nook and cranny of the corpse, and found a strange-looking book with a tattered cover and even more tattered pages.

'Maybe I can sell this.'

With all that in his mind, the boy took the book and the clothes of the corpse, disappearing into the night.

Then, after a few years, he eventually became a Mage.