Chapter 1 - Section 4: Border Fort Delivery
After our return from the herb and stone collecting we'd return to the house where I was instantly accosted by Primrose, and Raisa who almost demanded I cook dinner immediately, it seems 48 hours without my foods had caused these noble girls to go into systematic withdrawal.
The next couple of days passed rather smoothly with Raisa's shop opening thanks to an ample supply of all variety of potions I managed to create thanks to the herbs we picked in the forest, occasionally I offered smithing services at the attached forge.
But most of my time was spent at the construction site and with the help of my summonings the temple preparation was completed in almost no time. The basement was created to be complete stone with the main temple floor also being stone. Once that was completed I planted and erected giant wooden pillars fashioning the temples exterior to reflect The Parthenon at least at the head of the temple while the other three sides were setup to be solid wooden walls since the climate here had four seasons unlike the much milder climate of Greece back on earth.
With that having been completed the general shape of the temple was completed what came next was the creation of the interior. Using my woodworking skill I'd managed to construct the temple and then proceeded to create benches and pews within the temple to allow for lengthy periods of worship or even regular mass were it to be held. At the head of the temple was a solid stone alter, behind which stood the five sibling gods/goddess's, with the remaining four Gods receiving statues which lined the walls. Carved plaques were placed at the foot of each statue detailing the God or goddesses name, followed by their divine domain, and lastly a brief overview created by myself to give a description of the gods, and goddess's. choosing to omit some rather taboo aspects I opted to go for the PG-13 route by detailing the Gods to be a family but hiding the true relationship between parent, and child, and even siblings bonds within the godly family, since the original history showed severe cases of incest amonst the gods, but instead I chose to detail that the original 9 were the core gods with no direct relationship with one another other than bonds of marriage or infidelity, with the remaining minor gods all being ascended children between a god and those of the races of the world.
And with that the newly created distractions had been completed, the village elder stopped by the newly created temple requesting a tour while we were busying ourselves with taking down the fences that prevented entry.
Perhaps because of the scale of the building, or it's contents we drew quite the crowd on the first day, which Heracles was more than happy to fufill any and all questions placed, even going so far as to change into what would look like priestly robes while performing his 'job' I only stayed the day of the grand opening before switching over to working more hours at Raisa's shop choosing to only stop by the temple a single time as we all headed off on our way home, each of us had chosen our dedicated god's or goddess's. The girls all favored Hera, and Aphrodite, with Raisa also praising Hermes whose domain is wealth, trade, and commerce. Primrose had chosen to adopt Athena as her other receiver of prayer.
Heracles only openly prayed to Zues, and Ares. I on the other hand was the most partisan of all my core group choosing to pray to which ever god or goddess related to my activities for the day. Most days that was Hermes, Hecate, and Hephaestus but I spaced my prayers out so over the course of the first week every single god or goddess received at least a single prayer from me, and as I passed by or even stopped in at the temple the number of regular patrons was ever increasing. The villagers and even the adventurers seemed to be agreeable to our newly formed religion, though that being said not all were exactly agreeable the temple of Terra in the village whose nuns, and priest bore nothing but scowls to anyone who was seem exiting from the Hellenic temple, after only a single week the patrons of the two temples were miles apart with repeat daily worship taking place at one with dwindling clientele at the other.
Origionally with only a single temple to worship everyone was forced to go there regardless of faith but with a temple dedicated to all the gods of another religion one need not worry so it became convenient to head to the temple we had created.
'Clang Clang Clang'
The hammer blows against the heated metal rang out across my workshop today was like any other day I had awoken in the rustic village before heading out to the shop with Raisa, and Primrose along with our counterpart Kobolds in tow. I ran the smithy, while Raisa ran the alchemic shop with Primrose lending a hand as an assistant.
Since there was no other blacksmith the number of goods I was asked to repair every day increased as word spread amonst the villagers and adventurers.
'Knock Knock'
A loud knocking sound was heard from the shop door which prompted me to stop my work, placing the hammered out blade into the barrel of water to quench the blade, before making my way to the shop door before unlatching it and opening the door, there before me stood Raisa.
"Mind if I come in for a moment?"
"Sure, I don't mind I'm almost done all the requests I have so far"
"I see well then this might be perfect timing then, I've received a request to perform a delivery of supplies and potions and I was hoping you with your skills could undertake the request as my Adventuer on retainer"
"I see so just a simple supply run, that shouldn't be an issue it'll give me a chance to also resupply along the way"
"Oh man really just going agree like that, and here I had prepared all different manner of bribes or favors I'd be willing to give you in exchange for you help"
"Oh really well in that case bring em on"
"Noooope, you already agreed you'll just have to wait for the next chance to receive my gifts"
I just casually accepted her teasing since I was already thankful for the amount of regular income I was getting I mean thanks to the Gnoll Subjugatino I managed to collect quite a large sum thanks to the item drops the system allowed me to receive but it can never hurt to increase the number of funds I have at my disposal since who knows when I might need to use them towards buying something with my skill.
---
Since the day was still pretty early I had collected the items that Raisa needed to deliver from the shop's warehouse before also dropping off a couple of items that I left behind for their lunch, dinner and even going as far as to leave behind enough food to provide for them throughout tomorrow as well.
After collecting and dropping off the supplies Kurama and I set out leaving the village from the eastern gate. Once we were out of view of the village the pair of us set off at our top speed racing along the plains running towards the border fort where the supply drop was to take place, from the map I was shown we should be able to get there in the afternoon before evening dawns.
The journey to the fort was rather uneventful even when we'd stopped to perform another round of herb collection in the forest. But that's understandable with the sentries and forces being sortied out from the border fort the monsters in this area would be harder to find since they would be hunted on site.
Even with us wasting time messing around collecting in the forest we managed to get within eyesight of the border fort in no time at all, usually this trip would take a couple of days but thanks to my rise in stats I managed to run the distance in only a couple of hours but now that we were close we needed to setup the disguise so our fast pace came to a halt whereupon I pulled a cart out of my inventory before dropping all the delivery goods inside before finalizing with the summoning of Rocky my stone golem to be used in place of a horse to haul the cart laden with goods the remaining hundred or so meters towards the fort.
With our ruse prepared we started the slow walk towards the fort, as soon as we'd left the cover of the forest road bells started tolling from the border fort, and in the distance I could see a number of guards and soldiers rushing out to take position in front of the fort.
So to show our lack of hostility I chose to advance ahead of the cart walking at a brisk pace without withdrawing anything. The soldiers all look rather confused as we got closer since this would most likely be the first and only time someone had seen a stone golem following a human before without trying to kill them.
When we finally came to a stop at the forts entrance the guards had split into two groups one which remained professional and started to process the delivery request form Raisa had given me, before signing the slip and directing us to a warehouse within the fort. The second group on the other hand were busy acting like fanboys falling over themselves to get a better look at Rocky who put up a brave front not to let all the attention go to his head.
With this our personal request made to the guild was completed but since it's already pretty late I'd decided we should spend the night at the fort, and while I'm at it I could get a better gauge of the situation and what's to be expected in the coming days.
'Grumble'
"Food…"
Having completed what we needed to do and dispelling Rocky, Kurama sitting across the room from me's stomach audible rumbled so's that everyone present could hear before giving an empassioned plea for food. Which is fair since aside from lunch it had been quite a long while since we'd eaten.
So the pair of us quickly setoff in search of the forts mess hall, along the passages we passed numerous men and women all dressed in various stages of armor. Soldiers wearing matching sets of metal armor, adventurers mostly wearing mail, or leather armor, and lastly were the knights the least numerous of all in the entire fort there were only four but among the forts occupants these four were the strongest, members of one of the kingdom Chivalric Knight Orders, the personal elite armed forces of the king himself.
The hierarchy here was established in a battlefield fashion with those being the strongest garnering the most respect, whereas Kurama and I who were very lightly armour and unknown person who only just arrived and as deliverymen at that were set at the bottom as almost invisible personages.
'Clatter, Clatter, Clunk'
"Hooray!"
"We have a winner"
Having finally found our destination sounds of jubilant triumph erupted towards us who had just entered from the doorway. What we stared out at looked like the end of a series of contest ranging from arm wrestling, to drink, and in the corner there was even a pair of eating contests one to see who could eat the most, and the other to see who would eat the nastiest thing.
"Well now, this just looks like a frat house to me, but we do need food so might as well"
"Mmmm Food <3"
Working our way through the crowd we found a table that was mostly unoccupied save for a single woman dressed in a robe and holding onto a familiar looking staff.
"Mind if we…."
"Julia!"
Without getting to finish my sentence Kurama shot out from my side and did a flying tackle towards the still sitting figure.
'Thump'
The tackling having connected Kurama, and Julia both flew sideways and off the chair coming to a halt on the stone floor.
"Wah… what the hell just happened"
Completely dazed and now struggling to fight against the 'thing' pinning her down to the ground unable to move.
"Kurama, stop you're bothing her you know"
Having been told off the Kobold relented and released the flailing girl who was still sprawled out on the ground.
"Need a hand getting up?"
"YOU!"
Having seen my face and quickly slapping my hand aside before quickly scrambling up to her feet.
"I should have know you weren't a good guy, springing a surprise attack on me like that"
"Huh…"
"But Master not say so, Kurama do?"
Being shocked by her words only to be covered by Kurama's own broken admission
"Gah using such an innocent and carefree child for your nefarious plots how could you"
Her words cut deep but her actions spoke otherwise, as she quickly took Kurama up and hugged her deeply in her arms. Kurama just hung there arms and legs limp as she was held above the ground.
"You know if you keep holding her like that she wont be able to breathe?"
"AAHHH… Sorry Sorry Sorry"
Quickly dropping Kurama down and dropping to her knees bowing in apologie before her victim.
"Get up"
"Yes please get up, we're drawing quite a crowd here afterall…"
Looking round most if not all the nosie of the mess had ceased as all eyes were now heavily focused on the meriad of performances being portrayed from our small corner.
Having agreed the three of us came to a mutual agreement and took up our seats at the table.
"So you also came here?"
"I should be the one saying that, but yes as soon as I was healed I set right out to earn some achievements and regain my C-rank status"
"I see, well that's not surprising I mean there is a stampede coming afterall so you could earn a good amount of guild points from it"
"Yes! Exactly, and with this new staff from those Gnoll's nothing will stop me from becoming a C-Ranker again!"
As she spoke a fire could be seen burning deeping in her eyes.
"The humiliation of being demoted thanks to those… those people"
Ah yes thanks to her previous party she did fail quite a few quests and get demoted but to think she cares about her status this much.
'Gruuuuuummmmmmbbbblllleee'
"Master FOOOOOD!"
"Oh right right sorry I forgot, but where do we order from?"
"Order? You can't order food here only alcohol, everyone either has to eat rations they brought or cook for themselves but it's all soldiers and guards here so no on does"
"Eh… Well jerky won't satisfy Kurama so I guess I'm off to the kitchen then"
Sliding my stool back from the table and getting up to my feet I turned away from the girls before taking a step towards the only other door in this room.
"Wait does that mean you're going to cook?"
"Well yeah… I don't want to see what an angry Kurama looks like afterall"
"Do… do you think... I could also partake?"
"Huh, Oh you mena you want me to cook for you to?"
"Well I mean if your provision allow that is, if not I can survive on rations"
"No I don't mind, that is if Kurama's open to sharing her food that is…"
Both our eyes turned to the little fox-kin who was happily humming to herself all this while.
"What?"
"Do you want to be nice to Julia?"
Pointing a finger at the girl sitting next to her
"Yes her of course"
"Yesh!"
Turning round and leaving the room behind as Kurama received the flying tackle this time before being able to finish giving her approval for something though she was not sure what it was really she had agreed to.
[Well now she wasn't kidding when she said no one here cooks]
Thinking to myself as I stared out at the state of the kitchen, cobwebs covered everything alongside a thick film of dust.
Good thing I have my skills to aid me
[Multiply magic: Magic Hands]
With my select chosen from the menu 32 magic hands burst into life away my commands, so I quickly took out some handmade cleaning supplies we'd fashioned from the feathers of monster killed in the forests and they all got to work cleansing the kitchen.
I on the otherhand took up a workstation at the first counter top that was cleaned, before casting a second spell from my menu
[Shadow Magic: Shadow Sanctuary]
A wall of shadows enveloped me as if I had been encased in a cocoon which prevented the cloud of dust currently being kicked up across the kitchen from getting in my way, as I pulled out ingredients and utensils from my inventory.
---
Taking the meat I had chosen which was orc, and horned bull I placed two sizeable slabs down on a board I had carved to become a cutting board. Working with two knives in hand I quickly reduced the slabs of meat into a fine mince before placing all the meat together in a large mixing bowl the meat was appx a 40:60 ration since in tasting of both meat they closely resembled pork, and beef. Next I took the onions removing the outer shell before cutting both ends off and divinding them into halves before scoring them and then cross cutting to get finly diced onion quickly moving them all over to the mixing bowl.
'Ding'
As I was working away on the onions a popup appeared in my heads up display informing me that I had resisted the blindness state.
"Well good to see my weakness to the perils of onions has come to an end"
Moving on I pulled garlic onto the cutting board before shelling and similarly dicing it up before also placing it into the bowl.
Lastly I pulled a series of spices from my inventory and measuring out a spoonful of a chili powder like spice, next salt, and pepper
Having the general base created lastly was to crack and add in a couple of eggs these were 50% larger than earth eggs but beggers can't be chosers and since they were sold at market as food they should be safe for this.
Having all the ingredients in the bowl I cast a quick "Cleanse" spell from the menu to clean my hands before plunging both into the mixing bowl and thouroughly working the meat to mix all the ingredients together, once it was mixed together the meat looked slimy but that was the intended state.
Next up a jute bag appeared from my inventory depositing a spoon full of the contents at a time as I continued to work the meat with the other hand. Having used the egg as a binder this last step called for a dry good to absorb the egg and fill in the form, the jute bag being used was full of breadcrumbs created by drying out bread on our journey before crushing it down into a find crumb like powder.
Ensuring to not place in to much to achieve just the right consistency where the burger mix was not dry but also not slimy achieve the perfect mix of having the meat stick but not cling.
Next up was to take a handful of the mix and in hand work the meat to form patties once formed placing them aside on a wooden plate, with all the mix being used up 12 patties had been created, the plate now piled high with them.
As this work finished the magic hands had ceased functioning so I dispelled the Shadow Sanctuary revealing a fully cleaned out kitchen, all the dust and webs had been purged with pile having been created in the corner of the room.
Moving over and lighting up the stove in this room the style of stove looked like the only thing ever cooked before was meat on a spit, or soup hung in a cauldron. So I modified it by placing a thin stone slab to fashion an encolosed oven, as I waited for the cooktop to heat up, I pulled out buns, and condiments halving the buns and applying a mix of replacement condiments. I didn't have mustard, ketchup, aoli, relish or any other earth condements but thanks to the store I had found adequate replacements that were a close replacement. Applying a bit of each to halves of the buns and setting up an assembly line looking formation.
Having taken the time the cooktop was not hot to the touch so I deftly maneuvered the still waiting patties from the plate onto the stone slab making sure to leave space between them.
'Sizzzzle'
As soon as the first patty connected to the cooking surface a grand sizzling sound filled the room, and once all twelve were sizzling away visible steam could be seem rising up off of them.
The cooking skill provided me with the ability to know which and at what time to flip the patties to provide the grade of cook I was looking for. For a patty such as this the perfect internal temperature would be to get a medium-well cook before removing it from the heat source allowing the residual heat to cook the remaining inside as the patties rested before eating.
'Flip, Flip Flip, Flip, Flip, Flip Flip, Flip Flip, Flip Flip, Flip'
After having flipped all the patties the next ingredients were pulled from my inventory, a form of lettuce, pickles and even tomato each of which still was not earth grown but could filled their respective positions even with their otherworldly names.
Tearing into the lettuce and placing one to two leaves on each top bun, lining a pair of pickle slices, and a single tomato slice.
A minute before the cook would be finished I removed and placed a slice of cheese atop each patty, watching as the solid cheese slice slowly started to deform wrapping around the patties they had been lain atop.
'Deet Deet Deet'
With the pinging started to sound in my head I worked with both hands to pull the patties from the stove and place one apiece onto the lower buns before sealing them with the upper section.
"And with that the job is done, though 12 most likely won't be enough…"
Sounding like a joke that sadly wouldn't be likely since I along could eat 3 of these, and Kurama was our groups largest eater mixing in the now attending Julia I'll have to pull out some snacks later on for sure to prevent and complaining in the middle of the night.
With the burgers now created I moved their completed forms over to a platter before placing the entire thing into my inventory.
Before heading out to the mess I made a quick appraisal of the burgers now sitting in my inventory
---
[CheezBurgs]
A single patty cheeseburger created using both Orc, and Horned bull along with otherworldly ingredients providing the ultimate experience in flavor profile with an equal proportion of nutritional value for all food groups.
Effect: 25% restoration of Fatigue, 10% Buff to Health, Consuming one burger will keep the consumer full for one full day
---
[Huh, perhaps I'm wrong with a burger that performs like elven lembas bread from fiction perhaps Kurama shall be filled up after all.]
Having finished up I performed a simple wipe down of the stovetop before storing it away. Dousing the still raging wood flame with a bucket of water and departing from the kitchen walking back towards the table I had left my companion and the Mage Julia at.
But when I got back to the entryway of the mess hall what greeted me was a massive crowd casting cheers and jeers encircling the table where I had once sat.
"No way this time for sure she's going down"
"Not a chance she's unbeatable"
"I bet my month drink rations on her no way she'd let me down!"
Walking my way closer through the occasional gaps in the crowd cheering men and women I could see the tiny form of Kurama leaning across the table opposite her was a large man.
"Nnnggggggghhhhhh Not a chance brat you ain't takin me down"
Brushing aside a couple of the onlookers and making my way to the front what came into view was a duel still in progress. Kurama was locked arm in arm with a burly man as the two struggled against one another in an arm wrestling contest, both arms were locked upright with the mans face turning red, as vein all across his arm were bulging out, Kurama on the other hand was still moving her face around scanning the crowd of people watching her.
"End it!"
"Master J"
With my declaration, her hand quickly moved pining the large mans hand to the table but it didn't stop there as his whole body could not keep up with the motion and his large form was cast in the same direction, being launched from his chair into the crowd of onlookers. Who fell upon his weight like bowling pins.
"""""Yeah!!!"""""
The crowd erupted once more before they took notice of my return and dispersed various congratulator remarks, and qarrelling gamblers receeded to their own tables, the pile of passed out onlookers were dragged away by their friends and the rest of the crowd.
"Having fun I see?"
Having taken up the now vacant seat across from Kurama who was staring down sadly at the table.
"It's… It's not her fault they challenged her to it"
"Oh don't worry I'm not mad"
Hearing this and raising her head
"But now I'm curious so should we make a bet little Kurama?"
"Bet?"
"How about one match you against me, if you win, you can ask me any one thing within my power and I'll do it"
Eyes now gleaming as she leaned over the table to accept the challenge
"But! Should you lose you only get one serving for supper"
In an instant she shot back in horror, taking a moment bringing her hand up to her face in contemplation.
"If Kurama wins, can get hundreds of foods, but if she loses she only gets one… should she refuse she still get to eat lots though right? No no master would not allow that, he might even say no food for cowards, so only one choice then, must WIN!"
She sat there mumbling to herself for more than a minute until finally her arm dropped and a face full of resolve remained once again leaning across the table with one arm extended.
"I take it you accept then?"
"Yes! For the meat!"
Having received her tacit approval I also place my arm on the table taking her hand into my own.
Julia sitting beside us was just watching the proceeding without offering words of reprisal or encouragement, she actually was leaning forwards in rapt curiousity to see who would be stronger between the pair of us.
I was equally interested since I had a class which influenced my growth whereas Kurama and the others merely grew when I did.
"Ready, and…. Go"
With the start signal both our torso's twisted but out hands remained clasped and unmoving. This didn't change for minutes even with the crowd having reformed and new bets placed on both competing sides.
While the contest of strength was still going on, I could hear just barely audibly over the cheering crowd the groaning noises of Julia's stomach who was aptly waiting for the promised meal I would be cooking.
Taking pity on her, I opened the menu with my mind and shifted a single burger to now be placed on two wooden dishes.
Putting on an act I performed a little yawn
"Man it's been so long since I ate… Oh yeah right I did promise food didn't I, sorry for making you wait Julia"
Reaching out my spare hand and placing it on the table before here, having only tapped the wooden surface before removing my hand was remained in it's place was now a wooden plate with a steaming single cheese burger sitting perfectly in the centre. Moving my hand back to my side of the table I did the same once again pulling a single burger out before me.
For the first time movement was seen from Kurama's side as her hand wavered a little since here head was no longer locked looking at our clasped hands but rather at the food now sitting before me, her fox nose moving rapid back and forth smelling the abundant deliciousness that was now sitting before her.
Her eyes not moving from their newly locked postion, even as I picked the burger up with my spare hand moving it over to my mouth and taking the very first bite. Various meat and vegetable juices spilling out and running down my chin.
Little by little her hand was moving more and more towards defeat, only a little further until it was my victory. Cheating though it could be called.
"Grrrrrr"
Markedly there was a change in the aura, as all her fur stood on end, a growl escaping her lips our hands once again returning to an upright position looking across I could see that my opponents nature had changed. Kurama was entering a new state with her eyes changing color now a deep crimson red.
Thanks to the heads up display I could see she had entered an abnormal status condition of 'Berserk' the read out displayed that it would increase her strength at the cost of lower intelligence while active for the duration of the condition.
With her newfound power it was my turn to slowly but surely be pushed back little by little, once it started looking like I was at a disadvantage I quickly pathed through my menu finding exactly what I was looking for.
'Wham'
The sound resonated as the crowd of onlookers became silent, I on the other hand merely brought the burger in my hand to my mouth for a second bite.
"no… no way, by a scrawy guy like that?"
"My alcohol!"
Cries of sorrow and disbelief filled the room as every one watching continued to look to the table expecting the illusion to be dispelled before then but what they saw instead was the back of Kurama's hand pressed firmly into the table top, making it my win in this contest of strength. Opposite me all the strength that had been built up drained away from her form as even her head drooped down to look at her lap rather than stare into the face of her own defeat.
Releasing her hand from my own I moved to tap the table in front of her which dropped another plate with a burger in front of her.
"Don't feel bad you did really really well, so I'll give you a reward later on ok"
Having heard this her mood improved instantly before grabbing up the burger and practically shoveling the entire thing into her mouth all at once, tears spilling from her face as she moved her jaw to chew.
For the second time the crowd dispered, though a few did linger with the topic this time being the food I had pulled out that we were all now eating. Turning my gaze at our tablemate, Julia was frozen in shock not staring over at us but rather at the sandwiched meat being held in both here hands only a sinlge tiny bite having been taken out of it.
I on the other hand moved to place the last bit of my own burger into my mouth
"If you don't eat that quickly it will go cold you know"
Jarring her from her shocked state she quickly and ravenously took bite after bite until it was all gone.
As I was eating I couldn't help but doubt the description from my menu since eat bit wasn't exactly filling but immediately after swallowing the final bite, I felt as if I had just finished eating man plates at an all you can eat buffet.
Staring across I saw Kurama finally swallow after having savored every bite, soon after she straightened up like she'd been struck by lightning. A creepy looking smile slowly emerging across her face.
Well as long as it wasn't a sad look as she longed for more food so this must've sated her immeasurable hunger.
All three of us having finished out burgers
"Just what in the world was that?"
"Huh oh that, it's called a burger"
"No no no why am I not hungry any longer?"
"Uh because you just ate?"
"Arrgghh fine keep your secrets…, but also thank you for sharing that with me, it was very delicious"
Her head downturned and blushing slightly after being teased by me. I mean I don't mind saying the foods effect but it's common place in this world for adventurers to hide their skills and even equipment since you never know whose going to become your enemy in the future.
"Well you are welcome now we should turn in for the night we have an early send off if we want to get back to the village and see the others"
"Yay!"
Jumping up from her seat and hopping around before coming to a stop.
"Master Here!"
Holding out a brown sack which I took in hand.
'oof'
My arm dropped slightly after having misjudged the weight of its contents, having undone the string at its opening I took a peek inside. The contents were many numbers of coins even a couple of gold's.
"Oh I see you winnings I suppose? Good Job!"
Placing my hand atop her head and petting her ears, Kurama's face was happy but a noticeable blush was sighted even through the fur on her face.
Moving my hand down I took up her hand and we started moving to leave from the hall
"Wait!"
Turning around slightly to stare back at the standing robed woman
"Yes?"
"Do you mind if I come with you… I mean I'm alone and well it's not exactly safe"
Looking round the mess as she said this
Certainly compared to the rough and tough crowd here an innocent young woman like here surely would be quite vulnerable in a place like this.
"I don't mind, but as payment I'd like you to tell me what you could about magic since I've yet to get a chance to speak with a mana user"
"Uh sure if that's all that's no problem"
The three of us now moving off and leaving the mess hall behind, our new destination was the army barracks, since I had arrived with my summoning I was given a tag which allowed to me bunk in a 'party' room which was just a single room with a pair of bunk beds which would allow parties to have their own space to hold meetings and sleep together, but were you 'solo' you would be given a tag which would only let you staff in the general bunk with was a wide open room lined with numerous bunks offer little to no privacy at all.
Entering the barracks and quickly moving to ascend to the third floor where the private rooms were located, we walked along the hall until we found our room and entered.
The contents were the barest of essentials two wooden bunk beds with thatched reed mattresses, no chairs, tables or even a method for providing light.
[Shadow Magic: Lesser Photosphere]
Casting a single small orb of light which I moved to position on the ceiling of the room, before taking a seat on one of the lower bunks, Kurama chose to hop up and sit next to me, but Julia just hung in the doorway eyes locked on the glowing orb in the air.
'Ahem'
Having broken her daze she entered the room before closing the door and taking a seat across from us, leaning her staff up against the nearby wall.
"So you said you wanted to talk about magic right?"
"Yes, since I'm a magic type class but haven't had a chance to learn magic at all yet, due to some circumstances"
Having stated as such wasn't exactly a lie since using my menu I bypassed the common magic system and even though I had gained the Fire Magic skill I as of yet could not perform magic without my gaming menu.
"Hmm that's quite strange since magic users are rare after all"
"Well if it helps us we only just recently arrived in this land, since our own land was very much opposed to magic"
"Oh I see one of those muscle brain countries then that's understandable, it's foolish of them but magic does damage their ego's after all"
"Yeah"
Scratching at my cheek hoping she wouldn't inquire to much further on that front since I couldn't state the name of the country I was trying to act like I was from, and surely couldn't reveal I was a "Failed Hero" from another world.
"So in order to tell you anything I'll need to know if you possess the necessary skills…"
"Oh I see, well for magic ones I've got.
"That a nice assortment but what else?"
"Huh? Well that's it, all the other skills I have aren't magic related"
"Hmmm well in that case we'll need to start from the beginning then"
Adjusting her position taking up a stern posed which reminded me of the strait laced teachers from my college days.
"There are two skills vital to any Magician or Mage which are the Ability to sense Mana, and the Ability to Manipulate mana. You can still cast without these two skills but it is many times harder if you do. And gaining them can be quite tricky depending on how much mana you have. I was taught that every living creature has mana but only very few of us are able to sense it or even use it. So the first bit of training would be to make you aware of your own mana, this can be done one of two ways the slow way or the fast way mind you the fast way can be dangerous"
"Just so I know what's the difference?"
"Well the slow way would entail you performing a series of meditation as you learn to suss out and feel your own mana naturally, whereas the fast way you get someone else to inject their own mana into your body letting to actively feel your mana paths but if this is done by too much or carelessly the mana paths could be damaged or even destroyed resulting in the inability to ever use magic."
"Alright I see, which method did you use to learn?"
"Me… Well I attended a Magic Academy so I used the slow method, it took a few years but I did manage it"
"Alright so then, when you learned what exactly did you 'feel'?"
"It was like feeling light as if it was water coursing throughout my body, though I hear others had a different description for what they felt so it might be different for others"
"hmmm I see, I think I'll try the first method unless I urgently need magic then"
Since in a pinch I could still use my menu, but curiosity had me drawn to the magic system since it wouldn't be bound by the growth pattern lain out by the system of the game.
"So next question up would be how to use mana"
"Ho ho, already wanting to know that before you can even sense mana huh, well not that it doesn't hurt to know, but well in the beginning it's wise to use chants as this will help you to visualize the spell you are trying to cast, but once you become a full fledge mage you can use an abridged chant allowing for faster casting, and the master mages can cast using only the final verse of their chants to activate the spells"
Alright so varying stages but if it's all based on visualization with advanced earth knowledge on elements and what you can do with them I should be able to skip right ahead to chantless casting shouldn't i?
"Ok this should be the last questions on magic for a while, first how do you learn new spells? And second can you grow your amount of mana you have?"
"Well now those are some pretty advanced questions you have there, I wasn't taught till my final year, but even if your Skill level increases you won't learn new spells, for that you'd have to find a Grimoire but they are rare since it only lets a single person learn one spell before disappearing and they are rarely if ever found within dungeons. As for increasing mana, well the most common method would be to level up by fighting monsters, but that method is rather slow on the other hand you can risk forcing your own mana growth."
"Forced mana growth?"
"Well what I mean by that is you'd go through a similar sort of meditation as when you are detecting your own mana but this time you'd forcibly increase the amount of mana in your body. Since we all possess a magic bag, think of it like a second heart that creates the mana in your body you would consciously force that organ to create more mana for your body, but doing this will exhaust you greatly and if you force it to create too much to quickly you could create a mana overload which will damage your mana paths, or worse yet create a mana eruption which will result in an explosion as all your mana escapes into the air at once blasting everything in its path away"
[Hmm alright so think of yourself like a vessel but using this forced method is more like turning yourself into a pressure vessel without a release valve, sucks about spells but at the same time it's not like all magic can only be learned from grimoires so perhaps they don't know about how to create their own spells?]
"So is that all you wanted to ask me?"
"Yeah that's all I can think about, I mean if I have more I can always ask right, or even find myself a school to attend like you did?"
"Well you can ask but it'll cost you after this, and you are still young enough I guess for the schools but it'd be harder to be accepted at your age, since you'd be in the same classes as kids…"
Right since most would join at 14 or 15 upon their coming of age, nobles on the otherhand would attend even earlier since they could afford it.
"well I don't mind paying if that's what youd want but for tonight I think it's best we just turn in, since as I said before we've got the journey back starting tomorrow ourselves"
"Just don't come crawling into my bed in the middle of the night or I'll light you on fire"
"If you're that worried about it, perhaps I should just go sleep outside then"
Standing up from the bed and making a move towards the door
"N.. No you don't have to it was a joke, a joke I saw… it's your room afterall I cant ask you to leave"
"Izzat so, well then in that case"
"Come forth wall of darkness by mine enemies line of site:
Having come up with a fake chant on the spot I activated the shadow wall spell from my menu the room was bisected with a wall of solid black, at least that's what it would look like from Julia's side, our side on the other hand could see a semi-transparent wall separating the two halves of the room.
"There, now with a wall in place you need not worry"
Her mouth hangning open as she stared out at the mysterious wall
"But I thought you said you couldn't use magic?"
"Huh, no I didn't say that I just said I didn't know how it works."
"But you don't even have the skills so how did you use mana? You must be a genius"
"Well more on that later, do you need the light still or should I turn it off"
"A few minutes so I can prepare for sleep if you don't mind"
I pulled open my inventory screen and started to pull out futons and pillows for mine and kurama's beds, before quick changing myself into night pajamas. Once finished I raise my head only to quickly duck my head moment later Kurama quick shot over hugging me from the back of my head, her hands sealing my eyes prevent any possible vision.
What I had momentarily glanced at was Julia, who having had removed her robe was standing in next to nothing while digging around in her pack, I assume to retrieve her own bedding.
"Ok I'm all good now"
'Vwoomp'
The photosphere looming overhead burned out and darknes descended. I quickly pried Kurama's hands from my head before placing her into her already prepared bunk, afterwhich I crawled into my own bunk, but rather than lying down I sat on the futon back pressed up against the wall legs crossed and eyes closed.
Setting a timer of 1 hours in my interface I decided I would attempt training through the slow method for a bit.
[Imagine you have another organ once that produces something akin to blood, next feel the flow of this new blood and it circulates it's way thoughout your body.]
Focus
Focus
Focus
Having still seen the menu the entire time my eyes were closed I watched as the timer slowly ticked down.
With only five minutes remaining I was about to resign for the night when all of a sudden I felt a tingling sensation on the back of my neck almost as if all the hair had stood up at once, focusing on that spot I followed the feeling as it started to trace throughout my body as more time passed I could feel more of this warm throughout all my extremeties, once I'd felt it I tried to prove the feeling by willing that warmth to move as if I was a ship in the ocean but the reverse sloshing the warmth inside of me from side to side.
'urgh'
As I was doing this I quickly started to feel sick almost like I was experiencing motion sickness, or sea sickness so I hastily ceased the back and forth motion allowing it to flow like normal.
'Ding Ding'
A pair of notifications appeared to inform me that I had gained new skills, Mana Sense, and Mana Manipulation both at level 1.
[Nice I really did it in only one hour well, I can survive a lack of sleep for one night on to experimenting]
Choosing not to cast since that would be seen or heard from both my rooms occupants I opted to test the method of mana growth though only a little.
[So the method Julia mentioned was to sense the magic bag organ and force it to produce more mana than usual, sort of like opening a tap to increase the flow of water, but if you do that to a cup that's already full it'll crack or worse shatter so… what if I do this instead]
Using my experience gained from sloshing what I felt was my mana from one side of myself to the other I willed my mana to compress and compact itself as much as I could into one place, as I felt the mana leaving my head, arms, and torso and going into my legs a heavy sense of fatigue plagued me, but holding off as best I could I felt the 'empty' space slowly filling up, choosing to carefully only command that which mana had existed in me before, after some time I felt the feeling of fatigue disappear as I was topped up once again, at which point I released the held back mana in my legs. A wave came flooding into me as if I had just been splashed with cold water, and now rather than fatigue my body felt many time heavier than normal.
[So if I did that right I would say that was just mana compression and my total mana capacity just rose… but I can't confirm since I didn't check what my capacity was before to compare it to what it is right now. So should I risk trying it again to see?]
Thinking on it for only a second I figured I didn't have to go full scale I could just push some away and fill up rather than doing the full body like I had.
So pulling out my menu I looked at my character page which showed me my mana in a numerical value under my name in the party section. Keeping that page open I once again performed the same exercise opting to shift my mana away from the magic bag organ within me creating an open space cavity if you will.
Checking my menu I could see that the capacity had indeed gone up, but my current total of mana was only slowly increasing.
[So what if I let go of my control?]
Releasing the held back mana which flooded into the empty cavity, I check the menu once again to see that the maximum had dropped though not back to where ti had started and my total mana now matched the maximum amount.
[I see I see, so that how it is, but still there will be an amount upon which you cannot compress the mana and further, so until that time I should keep up this excersise so that I'll have a greater pool of mana to draw upon in case I need it. Though I now have a new problem…]
During my experimentation I had noticed a change likely due to my acquisition of the Mana sense skill which made me aware of not only my own mana but I could get a vague sense of the mana around me, Kurama above had a weak mana signal, but Julia across from me had a signal that felt just as strong as my own. This is something I'd need to correct before she woke up since there is a very good chance she would notice the change in me overnight.
So once again choosing not to sleep my next level of training began, an attempt to find a way to hide my own projection of mana from others.
---
Hours passed and the clatter of foot steps could be heard from the hallway, but thankfully I had managed to find a solution just in time, in all my attempts throughout the night I had gained a new skill, and at the same time found a way to mask my mana. The skill I gained was called
Realizing it was like a process of evaporation as the mana escaped through the pores in my skin, I'd spend a great amount of time practicing to trap that mana blocking my pours and sealing my body, managing to do this though it did come with a peculiar feeling almost like one would have when diving deep under water, or flying in a plane. The feeling of being pressurized though not to the extent of exploding or anything since if I wasn't forcing it my Mana organ would cease producing excess mana.
With morning come the sounds of activity started to fill the room as the sounds overflowed from beyond the door, as the other parties awoke to begin their morning rituals, and work. Inside my own room Julia still separated by the transparent wall began to stir, so I quickly rounded my seating choosing to face the wall, whilst above me Kurama likewise started to stir before dropping down onto my bed. A couple of times in the night she also stirred making motions like she would descend were I asleep but after a couple checks she'd return to her positioning.
Having decided to eat in room before we departed, I started to shop for breakfast items in my game store.
"Hey you awake over there?"
"Yep, you decent? Can I dispel the wall?"
"Course I am"
Having already known this since she spoke out I had turned around so I quickly dispelled the still active spell, thankfully the drain from maintaining it was less than the natural generation of mana I produced.
In an instant the wall disappeared and the clear form of the newly redressed Julia seated on her bed was presented.
"Good Morning"
"And to you two as well"
"Morning"
"It's not much but I have breakfast if you'd like?"
"I won't refuse if you're offering"
"Yay! Food!"
Having received approval from all parties involved, I quickly pulled bowls of porridge from my inventory and handed them out, next I pulled small plates of cutup fruits, and lastly I pulled out a single small box which I handed to Kurama mouthing the word 'reward' as I did.
While not as good as the custom food I could make myself the same porridge I'd purchased back on my journey to escape the kingdom still tasted good but in the end most of my morning meal was of the fruits themselves since they had a greater effect on reducing fatigue which I had accumulated a lot of by staying up all night on my experimentation.
After she cleared her bowl of porridge along with the provided fruits Julia said her thanks before getting to her feet and leaving the room declaring it was almost time for her to join the next scouting party that would be heading out.
The pair of us waved our goodbyes before packing up all our things and heading out from the fort.