72 – The Ultimate Weapon
After successfully hunting the Steelheart Dragon in the Aldera Mountains.
I extracted the Dragonite ore stuck to its heart and descended from the mountain.
Removing the heart wasn’t as difficult as I had thought.
While the scales were fairly tough, once it was truly dead, it was easily cut with the sword filled with magic.
When she was alive, her scales seemed tougher than steel.
After coming down the mountain, Hilda couldn’t find a carriage to take her back to the village because it was too rural.
She asked the villagers and found out the closest village where she could find a carriage, so she ended up walking there.
They said it would take about half a day to walk through a forest.
“Senpai! I’m glad I followed you after all!”
We were walking to the next village where we could find a carriage, and Sylphy blinked at me and said.
“T-That’s right?”
“Of course! The way you raise your body temperature in the cold, and how you quickly perceive and avoid enemy movements to find their weaknesses… There was so much to learn!”
What kind of goggles did she have on to see me as such a person?
Later, she’ll probably say things like, “Even breathing is different when you’re a senpai!”
No, no, that’s too much of a thought.
The reason Sylphy calls me senpai, even though I was promoted to Silver rank on the same day, is because she recognizes me as a stronger adventurer.
“Sylphy, come to think of it, you said you wanted to learn how to use magic from me.”
“Ah, yes!”
“Since we have some time until we reach the next village, should I teach you some basics?”
Sylphy’s expression bloomed like a flower at my suggestion.
The forest we had to pass to get to the village where we could find a carriage didn’t seem to have any strong monsters, according to the villagers.
Since I promised to teach Sylphy how to use magic, I’ll teach her when I have some free time.
There’s something I want to confirm as well.
We found a suitable spot in the forest and settled down.
First of all, I wanted to know where Sylphy was having difficulty using magic.
“Sylphy, what exactly is difficult for you?”
“Well… For example.”
Sylphy drew the short sword from her waist and swung it at the large tree next to her.
It was a clean and beautiful motion with just one swing of the sword.
In fact, she looked much better than me just by watching her swing the sword.
Well, I was the type who relied solely on the power and experience of magic without properly learning swordsmanship in the first place.
The tree that Sylphy attacked had a clear mark where the sword had passed.
“This is just me hitting it without using magic.”
“Yeah.”
“And…”
Sylphy closed her eyes for a moment, as if concentrating, and swung the sword at the tree again, quickly.
This time, there were much deeper marks on the tree compared to before.
If it had been a regular sword instead of a short sword, the tree would have been cut and still remained.
“This is me concentrating the magic as much as possible on the short sword and hitting it.”
“It’s because the short sword has limits to the range it can cut, not because you didn’t do it properly, right?”
“The problem is that I can’t maintain this properly.”
“I can’t maintain it?”
“In a real battle, the enemy won’t just stand still like a tree. I have to avoid attacks and think about various things too. But when the situation becomes urgent, the magic I’ve concentrated on my weapon disappears without me even realizing it. I don’t know what to do about this…”
Sylphy said to me with a gloomy expression.
It’s still a problem that I can’t understand.
Whenever I infuse my sword with magic, the magic has always been maintained without me having to pay much attention to it during battles.
Now, I can’t use it because of the phenomenon of magic running wild, but it was the same when using more complex techniques.
Since I’ve been able to use it without difficulty, it was difficult to give any advice that would solve Sylphy’s problem.
“Hmm….”
『Losing concentration during battles and dispersing magic is something all adventurers experience.
The more experienced adventurers have less of this phenomenon, but it’s something that anyone can experience if they are mentally disturbed.
While other adventurers are struggling to maintain the concentration of magic, Yunoha couldn’t understand it at all.
Is it a lack of empathy or a problem with her personality?』
Do I have to add such strange words at the end?
Right now, I’m trying my best to empathize with Sylphy’s perspective and solve the problem.
From Noble mtl dot com
Anyway, that’s how it is….
As expected, it seems that I have better concentration on magic compared to others.
Looking back now, it was the same when I first released my sword.
Even though I clumsily followed through with a technique that I had trained for a long time, I was able to use it properly on the first try.
Still, I should just throw away the idea that I’m a genius for now.
Even if it’s true, the moment I start thinking of myself as a genius in my mind, I can imagine how the narration would react, and it’s terrifying.
Even now, the narration can’t blame me whenever it gets the chance, so if I lose my humility, I’ll have to listen to even more unpleasant words.
That aside, the problem is that I have nothing to teach Sylphy.
According to the narration, the ability to maintain the concentration of magic seems to come from personal experience and mental strength.
That’s not something you can learn just by being taught, is it?
“Maintaining concentration of magic during battle is not something someone can teach you. It can only be overcome through repeated training and experience. Since it involves a significant mental aspect, it’s important to prepare your mind so you don’t panic in any situation.”
In the end, I had no choice but to have a theoretical conversation with Sylphy.
But Sylphy had nothing to say, so she listened earnestly to my response and nodded several times.
“I see… I knew it, but that part is indeed important. It’s difficult…”
I feel somewhat sorry that I couldn’t be of help.
But then, the narration came again.
“Sylphy’s problem was that she was greatly shaken mentally when facing opponents in close quarters.
She was more agile and skilled at evading attacks compared to other silver-ranked adventurers.
But when she started receiving attacks up close, she couldn’t concentrate on the infused magic at all.
When the enemy got close, she couldn’t maintain her focus. It was a trait inherent to Sylphy and couldn’t be improved through training.”
Certainly, Sylphy’s evasion ability was astonishing to the point where it would surprise anyone.
Even when she deliberately became a decoy to attract the enemy’s attention in the Arachne’s Lair, it was the same.
Her evasive movements were so fast, flexible, and beautiful that they could be called an art.
However, no matter how excellent her evasion ability was, it was useless if she couldn’t concentrate on her magic and lost her attacking power.
To think she was a personality that panicked when the enemy got close…
Hmm? If that’s her personality, why is she using a short sword, which can only be used in close combat?
“Sylphy, why did you choose a short sword as your weapon?”
“Huh? Well… I think it suits me better since I’m faster and more agile than others, and my body is flexible…”
According to the narration, her personality confirmed through the narration was not suited for close combat at all.
As there is a saying that one’s innate personality does not easily change, some people can overcome their fear in specific situations through experience, while others cannot. According to the narration, Selpi belonged to the category that could not overcome it.
“I asked you to teach me how to handle magic, but the advice I can give you is actually to create conditions that make it easier to handle magic. Everyone has different tendencies and personalities. In my opinion, Selpi, you are the type who can maintain concentration when you don’t allow the enemy to approach. You tend to get quite flustered when the opponent approaches, right? You’re caught up in the obsession that you have to avoid attacks, and it prevents you from fully concentrating on magic.”
“Senior…? How do you know that?”
Ah, did I accidentally reveal too much information from the narration?
“I’ve seen you for quite a long time, haven’t I? So I can expect that much.”
He said as if it was obvious, pretending to be unconcerned.
Selpi looked amazed.
“Senior… you’ve been paying such close attention to me!”
“Cough… Anyway, your weapon is unavoidably a weapon that can only be used in close combat with the opponent. But if you get into close combat, you become unsettled and can’t concentrate on magic. If you have quick movements and exceptional evasion skills, do you really need to allow the opponent to approach? On the contrary, wouldn’t it be better to use your strengths to block the opponent’s approach and create an environment where you can concentrate on magic from a distance?”
Of course, it was not easy to allow no approach from the opponent and only attack from a distance.
But Selpi’s body movements were very fast and flexible.
It seemed like Selpi was trying to utilize her advantage of being agile in close combat with her lightweight weapon, the dagger, but it was the wrong answer.
“I think it suits you better to change your weapon or keep your distance from the opponent and have a means to unilaterally attack. Seeing you infuse magic into the dagger and cut the tree earlier, it seems like you don’t have much problem with the ability to handle magic itself.”
“I… Is that so…?”
Selpi seemed to be lost in thought by my words.
There was nothing more I could advise.
Whether she would accept this advice or not was up to her, but I did my best.
It seems like I don’t have any talent for teaching or anything like that.
But at least I didn’t say anything wrong based on the narration, so it should be fine.
“Now, shall we go again?”
“Oh, yes! Senpai!”
I felt a slight pang of conscience for some reason, but I kept my promise to Sylphy.
Hoping that my advice would be of some help to her, I hurriedly took my steps again.
* * *
We safely returned to Kuberlo without any major incidents.
Sylphy decided to consider changing the weapon she uses based on my advice, so we parted ways for now.
I immediately went to Guild Master Algott with the Dragonite ore in my possession.
Algott accepted the Dragonite ore from me and asked me to send it to a personal acquaintance of his, a blacksmith in the capital city.
I paid for all the money needed for the production.
It was an enormous price that used up most of the money I had saved, but it was worth the investment if it could effectively suppress my mana rampage.
So, I waited for a week for the completion of the weapon.
During the time when I entrusted the blacksmith and spent too much money, I was gathering funds again by taking on relatively light requests.
When I heard the news that the weapon entrusted to the capital city’s blacksmith was completed, I visited Algott’s office again.
“This is Yunoa’s new sword made from the Dragonite ore. In addition to its function of suppressing mana rampage, it is made with an alloy that combines various ores to faithfully fulfill the function of a sword.”
Algott handed me the completed Dragonite sword and said.
Compared to the sword I originally used, it looks far superior in terms of quality.
When the light shines on the sharp, elongated blade, a faint crimson glow gives off a mysterious feeling.
In the center of the starting point where the blades met, there was a crimson jewel that appeared to be made of Dragonite.
“I appreciate your attention to detail. We won’t know how effective it is in suppressing magic until we try it… But I really like the sword itself.”
I sincerely thanked Algot.
There was no reason for the guild master to personally help me like this.
“You don’t need to thank me so much. After all, it was Yunoa who paid for everything, right? And… do you remember? Yunoa said she owed me a small debt.”
Algot said, staring at me with an unreadable look in her eyes.
A debt… What does she want me to do later?
“I have no intention of burdening you with absurd tasks. It’s just that there might be something that only Yunoa can do.”
Her words made me even more confused about her intentions.
Could there really be something that only I can do?
From the guild’s perspective, I’m just one of the many silver-ranked adventurers.
“…Anyway, thank you for helping me in various ways.”
I wanted to ask more, but Algot was not the type to easily reveal her true feelings, so I had no choice but to leave the guild as it was.
First, I need to see if the Dragonite sword I just acquired can solve my mana overflow problem.
As I headed towards the coast of Coubel to test the sword’s performance, Algot’s last words kept lingering in my mind.
* * *