《In Another World With My House》 Chapter 01 – The event AN: Inspired from ¡°My house is a magic power spot¡± and ¡°The Merge¡± ****************************** A young man was running on a dirt road at a moderate pace. Black short hairs, a charming face, bright brown eyes that almost looked golden, a roman nose and a slightly square jaw, an athletic body with a height of 178cm. He was earing a black shirt with 2 bright yellow strips on the front and the back, a black short with the same kind of strips on the side, and white running shoes. He was running in a wooden area. The sun was disappearing in the horizon when the view in front of him started to clear up. Within a few minutes, he reached a stone fence around 130cm tall, with a wooden gate wide open. There was a path that led to a 2 story house nearly 400m away, on top of a small hill. The area of the property was around 502400m square. ¡°Finally home¡± he said as he slowed down and walked toward the home. ¡°I came back right on time, it would have been troublesome if it got completely dark before my arival. It would be nice if the lights outside could turn on on their own...¡± He reached the door and unlocked it with his key and went into the house. In the entry hall, he got rid of his shoes, and walked with his socks on toward the kitchen after turning the lights on. There, he took a can of schweepes citrus in the fridge and slowly drank with half of his butt on the table. As he was recovering from his run, he looked around the room. ¡°Really, uncle. You left me a nice house... A mysterious one, but still really nice.¡± The young man, Marc, had inherited the proprerty from his uncle 2 years prior, at the age of 18. His uncle had died from a strange illness. His body started to deteriorate for a reason the doctors couldn''t find. After a few years, his life finally came to an end. It was a sad event for him. He had already lost his parents at the age of 15. His uncle was the only family he had, and he was also the one who supported him despite the fact that they lived quite some distance appart and couldn''t communicate much or see each others. Marc had to study, and he also worked part time to try and lessen the burden on his ill uncle. Because of that, he had come across some people that got him into trouble. He almost became a criminal once because he got involved in some illegal business and almost got caugh. Due to those bad acquitances, the shop where he worked got shut down and he lost his job. Without a job, paying a rent would be too trouble some, so he decided to move into the house his uncle had left. There, he found out that his uncle had also left a hefty sum of money, so for a year he had been living there without working or studying. He spent his days doing some physical activities, playing online on his console, or on the internet. He had found a lot of reading materials there, translated mangas and novels, some nice web novels. He could also watch a lot of videos, movies, series, cartoons and animes. Everything he needed was there. Food and other consummable necessities were delivered once a month, the home was away from the city so it was really calm. The air was clean, and there were no farms nearby so no problem with the smell of cow dung and the likes. He was still close enough to have access to electricity and internet. ¡°... And I''ve gotten stronger... Really, what a mysterious place...¡± When Marc settled in this home, he got ill during the first few days. Each days he got headaches and tummy aches. He would always throw up or have diarrea once a day. He had to force himself to eat and drink to keep up. He had wasted 2 weeks of food in 6 days because it would always quickly come out one way or the other. Thankfully, the effects lessened with each passing day. At the end of those 6 days, he could finally live normally, though there were still occasional headaches and nausea. As the weeks and months passed, he realised that his physical condition had improved to an astonishing degree. He first noticed it when he made a key fall behind a heavy cabinet. The story has been taken without consent; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident. He though he would need a lot of efforts to move it, but to his surprise, it was not. He knew how heavy it was because he had once tried to move it before. His regular physical activity didn''t include a lot of push up or something similar, so the increase in strenght he felt was unsettling. He tried to move other furnitures he knew were very heavy, and was once again surprised by the result. The fridge that he couldn''t move before, he could actually lift it, though not without a lot of effort, but it was still impressive. ¡°... I wonder if it''s because of that strange effect that my uncle gave me this home? His illness had slowed down after he started to live here after all. According to the doctors, he lived a year longer that what they had expected. They were impressed by his resilience...¡± Suddenly, all his attention was focused on the ground. He felt something amiss. After a few seconds, a small vibration could be felt, and it increased in intensity, turning into a full earthquake. The ground was moving so much he couldn''t keep his balance. He could hear things shaking and banging in the various drawers and cupboards, and was thankfull for the opening and closing system used. ¡°What the fuck is going on? This place isn''t supposed to have such strong seismic activity!!¡± The rumbling sound accompanying the earthquake got louder and louder. Then a loud bang was heard, which almost knocked Marc unconscious. He was dizzy and his ears were ringing. His dimed vision was shacky because he was lying on the moving ground. From the window, he could faintly see weird flashes of light and weird shadows. There was a second loud detonation and he completely lost consciousness. When he woke up. He found himself still lying on the ground. His head was buzzing and his body was numb. He also got a bit of nausea. The room was dark, there were no light, aside from the moonlight coming from the window. Considering the loud noise from before he was surprised the glass wasn''t even craked. The whole house was incredibly silent. Even the very low humming sound of the fridge couldn''t be heard. As Marc sat down, he was barely able to notice the thin veil hanging in the air like some fog. It was so thin, so dim, he nearly missed it. The reason he was focusing on it was because it was weird. ¡°... This, it definitly isn''t dust, nor fog... It''s... It''s faintly glowing? Did I hit my head? Wait, what exactly happened? There was that weird earthquake, then the loud detonation that knocked me out?¡± He looked around the room once more, sharpening his senses to detect anything. ¡°The lights are out, the fridge isn''t making any noise. The power is down. I need to start the generator. Damn, where did I leave the torch or the candles again? Whatever, I''ll use the lamp of my phon... God damn it!¡± When he tried to stand up, he felt something break under his elbow. When he lifted it at eye level, he realised it was his phone. The screen was completely smashed, and the whole thing was bent inward. There was no doubt that the thing was as dead as it could be. Marc looked at it for a minute before slowly shaking his head and leave the kitchen with a hand on the wall. Even if there was no light, he could still reach the generator because he knew where it was. In the garage. ¡°... With the lamp on the shelf above it... I should have put it on a more accessible place. How stupid of me. Too used to the convinience, now here I am walking in the darkness with my source of light for emergencies far away from me...¡± ****************************** AN:... Chapter 02 – The other world AN: the start of a story is always the easiest part, written quite fast ****************************** Within a few minutes, Marc reached the garage, found with mild difficulty the lamp. Before turning on the generator he checked the fuses. Once that was done, he started the generator. He went back into the house, the lights of the entry hall, living room and kitchen were on. He checked the time on the clock of the living room. It read a little past 2 am. ¡°The heck! I''ve been unconscious for more than 4 hours? Just what could have happened to knock me down like that? What were those 2 loud explosions? Was there something nearby that I wasn''t aware of? Maybe there was a battle? I don''t like it. I don''t like it at all!!¡± Marc turned of the lights, rushed back to the garage with his lamp and opened the trap door leading to the basement. He firmly locked it and went to a certain cabinet at a corner of the room. Inside, there were 3 firearms. A pump action shotgun made by Benelli, a french semi-automatic rifle from the previous century, and a beretta 92. All with a fair bit of ammnutions. ¡°... I''m still wondering how uncle got all of that... Not that I mind, in fact I''m thankful.¡± When Marc discovered these weapons, he took them out with their manuals, and tried them. Shooting a gun for the first time was an exciting experience. Also a painful one. He hurt his shoulder with the shotgun and his wrist with the pistol. He would shoot only a few rounds once per month. The ammos were limited, and he didn''t have any kind of license to by some. He definitly didn''t want to get involved with black market. He took the shotgun and the revolver, and left the rifle. He put some amnutions in a small bag made for it. Marc was familiar enough with the area around his house. He couldn''t think of anything there that could make such loud explosive noise, so he though something or someone must have come with something powerful, or something dangerous was uncovered by the earthquake. Worse, it couldn''t have been that far from his place. ¡°... I hope I''m worrying over nothing... Wait, maybe it was the mysterious thing that made me strong that blew up or something? ¡­ Now I''m really curious...¡± As he though of that, Marc remembered the weird haze he had noticed when he woke up. He realised that it was still visible. In fact, there seemed to be more of it in the basement than in the kitchen. ¡°... Maybe I should have a quick look outside? ¡­ I''ve got weapons anyway, and I know how to use them... I think I''ll take the machete a well.¡± And he did as he said. After readying himself, with the machete, the shotgun in hand and the hand gun at his waist, he left the house by the front door. He almost fell to the ground as he got a good view of the outside. ¡°Holy hell... Just what the fuck is this?¡± In the starry sky, there were 2 moons instead of the regular one. First, the regular one should be in its crescent phase. Second, the regular one was neither light pink nor light cyan. And most importantly, the second moon in the sky was big, 3 times bigger than his little sister. Also, unlike his sister, there were no craters visible. The surface was incredibly smooth, it looked like it would feel good to touch it. ¡°... No no. No, no, no! Nope! It can''t be happening. It. Can''t. Be. Happening... Ouch!¡± he said after pinching his cheek. ¡°... Pain... Let''s try again. Ouch! Aww!! Cough!!¡± He pinched himself a second time with enough strenght to draw blood. Then he slapped his other cheek. Then he punched himself in the gut. Always with the same result. Pain. ¡° ¡­ Ok... Shit... It isn''t a dream... This sin''t a dream¡± he repeated himself, as his heartbeat and breathing rhythm increased and his vision grew dim. Then he threw up. Once. Twice. And then a third time again. He choked a bit, and his breathing went back to normal. Almost. As his vision cleared, he realised that there was more of the weird glowing thin mist outside of the house. And then he got a good look at his surroundings. There used to be a lot of trees around his property, but now it was uncomparable. There was a dense forest surrounding his property on all sides. And toward what should be the east, there was an imposing mountain range with sharp pics. Then he noticed another peculiar thing about the weird mist in the air. This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere. ¡°... It isn''t moving with the wind... Instead, it''s... It''s revolving? Revolving around my house? Just what is that thing? I hope it''s not dangerous, it''s everywhere after all. If it''s dangerous then I''m screwed... Wait, even if it wasn''t, aren''t I already in danger? I''m in another in the middle of an fuckin intimidating forest. Isn''t that what the japs call a flag?¡± He started to have cold sweat, and hurried back in the house. Or at least he tried to, when a loud roar resounded in the area. Marc froze where he was. Only his head moved, turning toward the direction where the roar came from. In the night sky, what could only be called a dragon was moving at a quick pace straight toward him. Marc almost had a cardiac arrest, and almost lost control of his bladder. Once it got close, the dragon finally noticed him. It hovered in place for a little while, its eyes staring straight at Marc. Marc was also starring back at the dragon. He was firmly gripping the shotgun, which started to dimly glow without him noticing. He also didn''t realise that the weird glowing mist was gathering around him. The dragon, on the other hand, jerked back in surprise, then dived toward Marc. Marc didn''t have much time to think about what to do. He aimed the shotgun at the big lizard that was reducing the distance with him at an alarming rate, and opened fire. The shotgun glowed brighter, as several miniature shooting stars sped toward the dragon. It didn''t have time to react. Each of the miniature shooting stars exploded on its head, neck, torso and wings. The detonation surprised Marc, and he unconsciously jumped back, staying in the air several seconds before landing heavily on the ground, but still on his 2 feet. The dragon was instantly stopped by the power of the attack. The explosions destroyed its scales where it was hit, and it was bleeding a lot. It then fell straight to the ground and trashed in pain, growling and groaning. Marc, on the other hand, went from scared to confused and dumbfounded. He was starring at his glowing shotgun... And his faintly glowing arm. ¡°... Did I just do that?¡± He was familiar with enough fictional works to understand that he had charged his shotgun with a strange power, and this strange power raised the power of the shot and the amnutions several folds. He also realised that his physical ability reached new height, as he had jumped back more than 15m without momentum. ¡°... Everything is tied to the weird mist¡± he said, as he noticed the increase in its concentration around him. ¡°This weird thing had been leaking from this world to Earth, right where the house was. And it must be that weird thing that transported my house here. It''s also that weird thing that had strenghtened me back then, and also helped my uncle survive longer... And with a dragon here, I guess this weird mist is in fact mana particles...¡± Now that he had a good idea about what had happened, and about his own ability, Marc had regained his confidence. He walked toward the wounded dragon that was still recovering from the attack. It sensed his approach and looked at him. Marc could see the fear in its eyes. The dragon was afraid of him, and made a lot of efforts to distance itself from him. ¡°In fantasy games, dragon''s part are very usefull, and worth a lot of money.¡± Marc''s mindset turned from that of a prey to that of a hunter. And the dragon felt that it turned from a predator to a prey. ¡°You dared to attack me on my own home? What if you had damaged the house, you big bastard.¡± Finally, his anger from being attacked surfaced. Because some people had caused trouble for him in the past, Marc would easily get angry at people who disturbed his life style. A dragon attacking him was definitly an irritating event. He didn''t realise it, but because of the change in his body, he was releasing an incredible pressure, a pressure only the strongests creatures could release. And it increased with each steps he took toward the frightened dragon. ¡°You can only blame yourself for your predicament¡± he said as he aimed his shotgun at the dragon. ¡°Die.¡± The shotgun glowed, an the deadly miniatures shooting stars were released once more. ****************************** AN: --- Chapter 03 - Magic AN: --- ****************************** This time, the charged lead marble didn''t explode on impact, but after penetrating deep into the body of the dragon. Several muffled explosions were heard. The dragon tried to roar in pain, but instead groaned while vomiting a large amount of blood. It died a few seconds later. Marc finally released a sight of relief. He went in front of the dead dragon and observed it a bit more. Its total length from the head to the tail was around 30m, and it had a wing span of around 50m. The scales were a dull brown, the eyes were golden, and slightly glowing. ¡°... An impressive creature. I hope there isn''t one more impressive in the area... I guess not since it roared like a lord before coming here. Now, if I want to harvest anything, it will be more convinient in front of the garage, but how am I going to move him there? I know I''ve gotten stronger, but I doubt I can...¡± Marc though again about what happened. Even though he didn''t realise at that time, he knew that his shotgun wouldn''t be powerfull enough to deal with the dragon. He wanted more firepower. And what happened? He charged his weapon with mana, increasing the overall power. The first time it was instinctif, but the second time it was deliberate. Marc went around the dragon, grabbed its tail and pulled. At first he couldn''t move it, then wished for the mana to strenghten his body enough to drag the dragon. He suddenly gasped. For the first time since he came to this world, he could finally feel the mana. He felt it entering his body, infusing itself in this bones and muscles. He felt like he was full of energy. He was thus able to drag the body in front of the garage. He rushed into his house and gathered as many empty and clean bottles as he could and recovered some dragon blood. He extracted the eyes, tongue, some teeth, the claws, the heart, the core, some meat, and removed the scaled skin. Thanks to the magic reinforcement, it only took an hour. There was an unused chest freezer in the garage, and all the parts of the dragon except for the scales, bones and left-over meat, were put inside. The bones were left next to the garage, and the left-over meat and organs buried 200m away from the house. It was past 4am when he finished. ¡°It turned out to be more tiring than I expected¡± he said while massaging his head. ¡°Now I''ve got a massive headache... Damn, it''s irritating.¡± He went back in his house, securely locked all doors and windows, and settled on the sofa in the living room. At first he wanted to go into the basement because it was safer, but he wouldn''t be able to hear any intruder coming in. He didn''t want anything in his house to be stolen or destroyed. Besides, he believed he had the power to deal with any intruders. He fell asleep within a few minutes. ------- Knock knock knock... ¡°Your majesty, are you awake?¡± ¡­ Knock knock knock ¡°... What is it¡± responded the king. ¡°Why did you wake me up?¡± ¡°I''m sorry my king, but sir Alfred wish to speak to you. He says it''s important¡± answered the knight from beyond the door. ¡°Tell him I''ll meet him in my office soon.¡± ¡°Yes my lord.¡± The king grumbled for a bit, then got himself dressed in simple clothes and left his room. A few minutes later, he entered his office. Inside, an old man with grey hairs and beard was sitting waiting for him. He immediately stood up and bowed. ¡°My king. I''m sorry for disturbing your sleep, but something unsettling happened not long ago.¡± ¡°Explain.¡± ¡°As you know, us mages become very sensitive to magic once we reach the advanced rank. Around half an hour ago, I was myself woken up by a serie of quick magic pulses of incredible power. And it came from the direction of the Darkmoon Forest as far as I could tell... My king, Darkmoon forest is a lon distance away from here, yet I was able to sense the magic pulse. I''m sure even an expert mage could have sensed it if he was awake. Something happened there, my king.¡± ¡°If it''s really as you say, then it must have been something incredible. And the advanced mages from the Kynareth Republic and Elcros Kingdom are probably aware of it as well, right?¡± ¡°It''s as you say. I think we must send someone to investigate it as soon as possible. What caused that magic pulse must be very, very powerful. Probably an artifact from the ancien era. No living creature could have done this. That, I''m certain.¡± Unauthorized use of content: if you find this story on Amazon, report the violation. ¡°... I will send Wannour there.¡± ¡°Sir, your daughter? Sir, as her teacher I''m well aware of how strong and talented she is, being an expert mage at such a young age. But it''s Darkmoon Forest we''re talking about. A place that no other country dared to claim as their own, just because of how dangerous it is. We need the join collaboration of 3 countries and the adventurer guild to keep the monster population to a manageable level. It''s too dangerous to send a child of royal blood there for a scouting mission.¡± ¡°I know it will be a dangerous mission. But we won''t be the only ones to send someone there. I want a royal there to deter the rivals we will more likely encounter there. They would think twice or more before trying to raise their hands at royalty. Besides, I think it will be a good experience for her, I hope it will calm her temper her a bit.¡± ------- ¡°You''re finally here¡± said the middle aged elven man in an arrogant voice. ¡°You''ve called for me sir?¡± answered the young elven woman in a neutral tone. ¡°Yes. Master Yivanah, our master healer, as well as Councilor Bratok, one of our advanced mages, have sensed a disturbance in the Darkmoon Forest. They believe it must be investigated as soon as possible. They are putting up a team. I want you to make a small team of your own and tail them. Find out the origin of the disturbance, and if it''s an artifact, do try to steal it. If you can''t, do not let others have it. Now go.¡± ¡°Understood¡± said the woman before disappearing from the dark room. ------- Marc slowly woke up. He lazily looked around. He was in his living room, on his sofa. He could tell that the sun was already high in the sky through the curtains. He still had the shotgun in hand, and he felt the berreta under his pillow. The weird mist, which he decided to call mana, was ever present in the air. ¡°... So it really was not a dream eh...¡± As he stood up, his stomach growled, and he was made aware of how hungry he was. After his evening run, he didn''t get to it. After being transported to this world, he had to fight a dragon, harvested whatever he could from it and had to get rid of the useless parts. ¡°... I must have overused my magic at that time. That headache I got must have been the backlash of such prolonged use of magic. I mean, I used it for nearly 2 hours straight... Well, now that I''m well rested, I''d better take a good shower, then eat. I stink! And I''ll have to clean the sofa, fuck.¡± Marc slowly went to the first floor of his house and entered the bathroom. He was thinking about how he would enjoy a nice and long shower when he remembered he was cut of from his usual water supply. He doubted that the underground water source was teleported with the house. So he just poured hot water in a bucket and washed himself with just that and his soap. In the end he had to fill the bucket once more but he didn''t really care. Afterward, he went to the kitchen and made himself a salad with an omlet and some bread. He washed it with some fruit juice, and stayed on his chair for nearly half an hour without doing anything. ¡°... I should check my supplies of whatever I have, from food to toilet paper, and fuel for the generator.¡± Thus, Marc spent an hour to take note of any and all consummable he had in his house. Food for 2 weeks, cleaning products for a month, toilet paper for around a month and half, cosmetics for 3 weeks, 5 days of fuel for the generator, disinfectant for a dozen uses, medecine that would last 2 more month, and 2 full tanks of gas for the 4 doors pick-up that belonged to his uncle. ¡°I have nothing to fear for the time being. Also, the solar panels on the roof seem to be working fine. Once the generator runs out of fuel I can just use the old hot-bulb engine in the basement. For now, let''s see what I can do with magic!! It''s fucking magic after all!!¡± ****************************** AN: --- Chapter 04 - Anxiety AN: --- ****************************** ¡°Up until now, the only way I have used magic was pump it into something to strenghten it. And the effect are of course only temporary. I need to know how to create fire or water, move the earth or the air. Or healing. Since I was able to do something like strenghtening with a simple thought, the rules to use magic in this world shouldn''t be very complicated.¡± He remembered that in most of the thing he read or played, magic was often divided between fire, water, earth and air. Sometimes there was also light and dark. In some other case it was divided between healing, destruction, transformation, summoning and the like. Some systems were even more complex. ¡°... Hmmm, instead of trying to use magic with some fictional system, I should try it with a concept I''m already more familiar with. Science. The things from my world that were transported here work based on scientific rules. If they still work here, it means those rules also apply here...¡± He though about the events of the previous night. ¡°With mana, I could strenghten my body or an object, so mana must affect these rules one way or another... In my world, it is said that there are 4 fundamental forces that rule everything by interacting on differents scales. Maybe, in this world, mana is some kind of fifth force...¡± He started to walk around as he was thinking aloud. ¡°Or maybe it''s just an energy particle that can interact with everything in its own way. An energy particle that can bend the way the 4 fundamentale forces act. Strenghtening a material seem like strenghtening the force that keep the atoms together, thus strenghtening one of the fundamental forces.¡± He flexed his biceps and took a few poses. ¡°As for increasing my strenght, I don''t see how it worked. Maybe my body used the mana for the excess power it couldn''t exert by itself? Damn, I''m not knowledgable when it comes to biology so I can''t have any good ideas in that area... Let''s leave the complicated theories aside for now.¡± He walked outside and looked at the sky. There was a white sun, seemingly the same size as the one on Earth. ¡°Fire. Fire need heat and something to burn. 2 things react with each other due to the heat and turn into something else, releasing fire in the process. Usually, it''s carbon and oxygen turning into carbon dioxyd, but other things can be used as well. Electricity, it''s a large number of electrons moving from point A to point B when there is too much at point A and not enough at point B.¡± He started to feel a bit hot under the sun so he went back inside. ¡°Heat is the amount of molecular activity, molecular movement. The more there is, the hotter something is, the less there is, the colder something is. The transfert of heat is the transfert of movement energy, or something like that... And I guess movement itself is cinetic energy. Damn, if only I could connect to the internet, I could make sure I understood everything right. If I made a mistake in understanding, I''m afraid I have neither the brain nor the tools to make proper research an correct the said mistake.¡± Marc berated himself. He wasn''t a scientist, he didn''t do any deep studies on the topic. Just some thing he read or heard here and there, and checked on wikipedia to see how accurate or innacurate it was. ¡°Heck, putting aside all the things about science and magic, it won''t matter how strong I am if I''m attacked during my sleep. Since the dragon came here, I guess I will have a few days of peace, but things will get busy later since I disturbed the balance of the forest. I need a warning system, and maybe some traps. At time like these, being alone is really a bother...¡± ------- ¡°Hu hu hu! The Darkmoon Forest eh. It will be so much more interesting than everything I''ve been doing so far. Finally, I''ll be able to make full use of all my abilities. I was seriously getting sick of all those people pampering me like that.¡± Unauthorized use of content: if you find this story on Amazon, report the violation. Those words came from a beautiful young lady who was sitting in a chariot. She had bright golden wavy hairs reaching the middle of her back, though since she was in the chariot, she pulled them in front of her. She had a heart shaped face with upturned deep blue eyes, a straight nose and small lips. She was a beautifull girl, desired by many, Wannour Magdelne Balian, third daughter of the king of Anthurium kingdom, Edward Balian The Second. ¡°The king just got tired of your immature bitching and decided to send you there so you would grow up.¡± Those blunt words came from the mouth of the second person in the chariot. She was a young woman with red hairs reaching her shoulders, an ovale face, almond hazel green eyes, a nose with a slightly high ridge, and beautifull full lips. She was very charming, more on the handsome side than the beautiful side. ¡°What are you saying? I''m an expert mage you know? Someone of my talent shouldn''t be kept in the castle most of the time you know! There is so much I could accomplish out there! You''re always being mean to me Roheisa.¡± ¡°Not at all¡± replied Roheisa Reinfield, her personal knight and childhood friend. ¡°I''m just opening your eyes to the bitter truth.¡± ¡°You always say mean things like that! Talking like what I say isn''t true at all. And you always say that with that damn expressionless face. You won''t find a husband like that if you continue. You''re already 20 you know? You''ll turn into an old maid.¡± ¡°... It''s fine. That means I can babysit you for a bit longer.¡± ¡°Hey!¡± ------- ¡°A survey of the Darkmoon Forest you say?¡± said a tall man with an athletic body and wolf ears on his black haired head. ¡°This isn''t a small request. Nope. It''s quite the risky one.¡± ¡°That''s right¡± said a woman with long black hairs and felin ears on her head. ¡°We are only B rank adventurers. Why aren''t you looking for the service of an A rank? It would be less risky. For all of us.¡± ¡°My sources sent words about suspicious activity in the forest. I''m afraid those suspicious individuals would have allies keeping an eye on the higher ranked adventurers. And in case of troubles, it would be better to have those higher ranked adventurer at hand to defend settlements¡± said a woman with long silver hairs, brown skin and pointy ears. ¡° Also, you are the best rogue-class adventurers available right now. We don''t go there for the sake of fighting, but for gathering informations. We are to move while remaining concealed and avoid monsters. For that, you are indeed qualified.¡± ¡°... I see. I don''t really want to, but Kyraneth is my home¡± said the man with wolf ears. ¡°And I have friends and family living near that accursed forest. So, yes, I accept the job.¡± ¡°I accept as well¡± replied the woman with felin ears. ¡°It sounds interesting.¡± ¡°Then it is good. In fact, I made preparations on the premise that you would accept, the food, euipment and means of transportation are ready. We can leave at any time. I''d say I would be happy if we could leave today.¡± The 2 people with black hairs and animal ears looked at each other for a bit, then nodded at the same time. The woman spoke. ¡°Then we can leave in 1 hour. That the maximum time we need to go an get our belongings and meet back with you.¡± ¡°That fast?¡± asked the silver haired woman. ¡°It''s our personal rule to be ready to move at any time¡± answered the man. ¡°Since we are going to the Darkmoon Forest, I guess we can meet at the south gate?¡± ¡°Of course¡± answered the silver haired woman. ¡°We will see you there then¡± said the other woman. ****************************** AN: --- Chapter 05 - Observations AN: String of updates? As I said, because the beginning of a story is the easiest part to write. I wrote for sevral days, disregarding my other fictions ****************************** During the rest of the afternoon, Marc stayed outside near his house, with his shotgun and pistol. He had mad small experiments with magic. From his understanding, fire and electricity were a form of energy. So he wondered if he could change the magic energy, the mana, into either fire or electricity, or an imitation of those. The result of the experiment was a success. It was also a good thing he made these experiments outside with his back facing the house. The lightning ball he generated, and unintentionally detonated, left a small crater on the ground and blasted him 10m away. It burned his clothes and his skin, and nearly ruptured his eyeballs and eardrums. He almost suffocated to death from the temporary paralysis of his diaphragm. If he had started with fire, he would probably have killed himself. He spent the rest of the day trying to restrain the amount of mana he would use. And it turned out to be more complicated than he expected. Precision control of the body was one thing, precision control of the mana was another thing. At least, directing the mana toward a certain direction wasn''t complicated. Thanks to that he didn''t have to worry about his spells hurting him. The fire and lightning made from electricity did indeed look and feel slightly different from the natural thing. Marc though it was appropriate to call them magic fire and magic lightning. Natural fire and lightning controled by magic wouldn''t be called ¡°magic¡± by him. He also noticed that magic fire and lightning could induce or strenghten natural ones. ¡°I''m a fire and lightning mage! Not bad after half a day of practice¡± he joyfuly told himself as he was eating his dinner. ¡°Still, that kind of mana manipulation is more tiring than I though. I guess using magic will always come with a splitting headache at the end of the day. Why does it have to be so mind-numbing? Haaa...¡± After finishing his meal, he washed the dishes and went to the bathroom. ¡°Using magic is nice and all, but if I must endure a headache after each major uses, I''m going to be completely defenceless... Need to learn how to make magical objects. Magic tools or magic weapons. Maybe I''ll even be able to make some needed automated defenses, or some golems... Well, I''ll think about it tomorrow...¡± The next day... ¡°Now what? Yesterday when I though about it, it sounded simple... Finding a way so that the magic would stay in an object is probably the easiest part. There are things that seem to attract mana and absorb it, like my body for example. I bet I can use my own blood if necessary. The hard part will be how to tell the magic in the object to do this or that.¡± ¡°In fictional works, it''s achieved through the use of runes. So, by using a magical language. Now, is there a unique magical language? Or is it possible to use one''s own magical language? I think there must be at least a basic code to follow...¡± ¡°Thinking about a code... Yesterday, all my magic experiments were made using thoughs and willpower. I didn''t try to chant arias or make special gestures. I didn''t try to make some magic circles or the likes...¡± ¡°Thinking about magic circles, mana is revolving around my property. If mana by itself is making circles, doesn''t that mean that mana can react to certain circles as well? And maybe other geometric forms? Like some geometric paterns naturally found in nature?¡± ¡°Circles and natural geometric paterns. Materials that absorb and hold mana. A specific language. I believe those 3 are needed to make proper enchants. I''ll work on the first 2 points in the mornings, and the third one in the afternoon... No, I''ll only use half of those periods for enchanting research. The other half will be for spells and eskrimas training. The evening will be for whatever must be done around the house.¡± Marc''s uncle had books about biology and geology. It must have been because the house was in the countryside, not far from the mountains. Marc was able to find some natural geometrical shapes and formations in those. Things found on plants, on some animals, or in the structure of rocks, cristals, and snow flakes. He reproduced them on paper, in an unused text book which he called his grimoire, his personal magic research book. Stolen from its original source, this story is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings. He took a break at noon to eat. He was on his rooftop, looking at the surroundings. ¡°When you have a small garden, it''s easy to keep an eye on things... Here, I have a 500000m square garden with a fence 400m away from the house, 2500m long. On top of that I have to be wary of the sky too. That''s a huge area to guard alone. I really need an alarm system, at least for ground intrusions... And one that won''t break or be disabled easily...¡± In the afternoon, he drew several circles and geometrical paterns with differents materials on differents supports. The materials he used to darw were his own blood, dragon blood, ink, chalk and paint. He drew on paper, fabrics, cardboard, glass, wood, metals and stones. He made as many combinations as he could, and observed how the ambiant mana would react to them. At the end of the afternoon, he noticed that mana was drawn toward the blood the most. Ink, chalk and paint didn''t attract much more more mana than any other random materials would. Marc though that, if not for some geometric patern, they would attract only as much mana as a random peeble. Paterns drawn on paper, fabrics and glass seemed to attract more mana than stone and metal. Wood seemed to attract more mana than stone and metal, but less than paper, glass and fabric. Mana was indeed attracted to certain shapes and materials. ¡°Hmm, this time I only observed the reaction of ambiant mana. Tomorrow, I will draw the paterns while infusing mana into the material used to draw. I will also how it will work with water, especially water with something dissolved in it. Once the water evaporate, the dissolved thing will solidify again and remain. I will also see how ink, paint and water will do if I mix them with some drops of blood. I didn''t try oil or something similar... I guess I will have a lot to experiment during the next few days!¡± As he was about to enter the house after storing the items he experimented on, he noticed some movement at the edge of the forest. The sun was setting, so there were a lot of weird shadows, but he was certain to have seen 2 or 3 figures there. He went from a relaxed mood to high alert as his heartbeat quickened and his concentration increased. ¡°At the end of the second day, and already some knew visitors... Sneaky bastards they are this time... I guess I won''t be able to sleep tonight.¡± Marc was very worried. Watching out for intruders during the day wasn''t too troublesome. But at night, with the lack of light, within the darkness, it turned into a scary task. The idea of missing one of them, and ending up stabbed in the back, was quite frightening for someone living alone away from civilisation. He stayed outside for a few more minutes, making a round around the house, then he went back inside the house as the light of the sun disappeared and the darkness settled. He had decided to leave the semi-automatic rifle under the stairs with its amnutions so he could easily get it from either outside of the house or from the upper floors. As soon as he locked the door behind him, he went straight for the MAS-49 and hurried to the ceiling. He didn''t turn on the light there. He discretly opened one of the windows and sneaked out on the roof. The external lights allowed to properly see the ground around the house up to a distance of 100m. Even if it wasn''t clear, he would be able to notice something at a distance of 150m. But it didn''t illuminate the roof. In fact, it made seeing anything there harder. Marc was lying low on the roof, being carefull of notgetting completely on the top where he might really be noticed. Still high enough to be able to see all around without trouble. He was constantly looking around, unwilling to relax, the MAS-49 charged and ready, the amnution at arm length. He may be physically quite strong, but he was unwilling to face an unknown enemy on close range, especially at night. He had already used enough magic during the day, he didn''t want to use more and get one of those headaches that would in the end make him sleep like the dead. Besides, using magic would tire him mentally, which is a bad thing when one has to be on look-out in at night. ****************************** AN: --- Chapter 06 – Night Strike AN: ****************************** 4 hours had gone by since nightfall, and Marc was still vigilant on the roof, his senses sharps, his head mobile to take in all the surroundings. If not for his improved physical abilities, he would already be very tired mentally from this constant state of caution. There wasn''t anythin noteworthy until that moment. He felt a change in the overall atmosphere. ''¡­ Silence... Things are too silent, the forest has never been completely silent...'' Marc jerked his head toward one side. He didn''t see, smell or hear anything there. But there was something, or rather, many things. How he knew? He didn''t understand at first. As he focused his attention there, he recognised what spooked him. There were slight fluctuations of mana there. Whatever was there perturbed the mana in its immediate surroundings. It was a very negligible, but more than enough to know that something had entered the slowly revolving vortex of mana that covered his home. ¡°... I can''t see you¡± whispered Marc. ¡°But I know you''re there¡± he added as he silently got into a shooting position. ¡°Come out, come out, wherever you are...¡± The things that entered his property were definitly cautious in their advance toward the house. From what Marc could tell, there were 28 intruders, and they were deployed in an arc. It made him sweat because it was a clear sign of tactical intelligence. What was even more worrying is that he felt another wave of disturbances opposite to the position the first intruders were coming from. ¡°I was wondering why you came from a single direction instead of surrounding me from the start...¡± he told himself in a low voice tinged with irritation. ¡°It turns out that the true attack would be initiated by a second group from the other side. The first group is just a decoy...¡± ''Maybe there is even a third group, who knows... I hope I won''t have to use too much magic or I''ll be done if there is another intrusion soon after'' He though with a bit of bitterness in his heart. Once the first group of intruders reached the 150m boundary, Marc was finally able to make out their shapes. His heart almost skipped a beat and his guts started to hurt when he saw them. They were definitly humanoid. And he was pointing a gun at them. His hands started to shake a little as he was confused. But before he could do anything else, the intruders had advanced another 20m. More of their features could be noticed, and Marc''s panic receeded as swiftly as it had started, replaced by confusion, surprise, recognition, and then confusion again. ''¡­ Too shorts, ears are to big and pointy, the eyes that started to reflect the light are too big, and they are all yellow... Some kind of goblins? Why would such weaklings be in the area where a dragon lived? I guess I can deal wi-... Hmm?'' 3 of the shapes at the back of the group were differents. 2 of them had features similar to the other weaklings, but they were taller. From what Marc could tell, as tall as a human. The last one was even bigger, more muscular, with more fat on the body. While all the other intruders seemed to have some kind of short sword or dagger in their hands, the big one had some kind of staff. As Marc concentrated on him, he realised that there were a lot more mana particles around him than the others. ''¡­ Hobgoblins, and an orc mage? ¡­ An alliance between goblins and orcs? Or is it normal for them to act together in this world?'' ¡°¡­ Wait, I dont have time for that!! Those barbarians are going to plunder my house!¡± BANG!! BANG!! The silence of the night was broken by 2 consecutive detonations. Rifles usually have an effective range of more than 300m. Marc had regulary used his MAS-49. For him, hitting a target at less than 200m wasn''t hard. Especially a target moving so slowly it could be considered static. And with his improved physical ability, he had better control over his movement, better senses and better overall coordination. The first bullet went through the skull of one hobgoblin. It made a small hole when it entered, but left a bigger one when it exited the head, accompanied with red pieces of brain and bones. The creatures were so surprised by the sudden noise they didn''t notice the death of the first hobgoblins. But when they did, the second one received the bullet in his mouth, and it exited at the back of his neck, breaking the spine at the same time. Stolen content warning: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences. There was no third shot. After the second, Marc had leaped of the roof. While the creatures were looking at the dead hobgoblins, Marc landed on the ground. The first sign of his appearance was the shadow his body casted as it passed in front of the light. That was all the orc needed to recover his battle readiness. He had been surprised because he didn''t understand how the other 2 died, but now that the enemy had appeared he had recovered. ''Come on, show me what you can do'' though Marc as he rushed toward the goblins with his machete. The reason why Marc didn''t shoot the orc was because he was a mage. And Marc was someone who could see mana. By seeing someone use magic, he would better understand how it worked in this world. The goblins were small fries for him so he didn''t hesitate to get close to them, not only to preserve his amnutions, but also to be closer to the orc when he would start to use magic. As he rushed toward the goblins, he alwayskept an eye on the orc. He lightly infused his machete with mana to make it more durable. The goblins were wearing leather armor after all, and some had shields on their backs that they equipped. The blade of his machete would be too damaged without the reinforcement. There were 25 goblins, and Marc was looking forward to killing them. He was shocked when he though he was about to kill humans, but when it came to monsters, even those with intelligence, he didn''t mind at all. When he killed the 2 hobgoblins, he was very satisfied. Almost happy. He had enjoyed seeing their heads break under the power of the bullets, and now he was itching to cut them down. ¡°Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha!!¡± Marc closed the 90m between him and the goblins in 5 seconds, and laughed as he slashed the throat of the first goblin. They weren''t more than 150cm tall at best, skinny yet athletic, but still very weak compared to himself. When he clashed with the short sword of the second goblin, he realised the difference in power. The goblin was blown toward one of his comrades, his short sword broken along with his arm, and a deep bloody gash on his leather armor. Marc swore he saw the guts of the creature within the wound, and was unconsciously displeased they didn''t spill. He didn''t realise it, but he wanted to kill all of them in a gruesome way, he wanted to slaughter them. His heart was beating fast due to the blood lust and excitation. A goblin got beheaded, and the head was kicked toward the face of another one. He ducked under the blow of a goblin and grabbed his ankle. Using hissuperior strenght, he lifted the body and used it to beat up his nearby comrades. There were sounds of bones breaking, leather armors being cut, shields being smashed, metal weapons breaking, blood splashing on the ground. The goblins were screaming in either pain, terror, or both. The orc had been trying to coordinate the attack, but Marc was too fast for him. The death of the 2 hobgoblins had been a severe blow to the group. Within 10 seconds from the start of the battle, 7 oblins were killed and 7 more were seriously wounded. At the rate things were going, they would be anihilated within 30 seconds. He started to cast magic, and targeted the injured goblins. ''Finally, you''ve made me wait! ¡­ Hmm? ¡­ Support magic, no... Healing? This is interesting... Hmm, the surrounding mana is reacting? It looks like the power of the spell got boosted by the ambiant mana. It looks like my house really is a power spot.'' Marc could feel the movements and transformation of the mana within the orc. It was so clear he could almost see it. He observed the flow of his mana, going to the staff in his hand and shooting toward the group of wounded goblins. It expanded into a small area where the goblins were, then equaly entered each of their bodies. He observed how the mana interacted with their bodies to heal them. He could feel the magic at work on the bones, flesh and skin. Marc had slowed down his killing spree for the duration of the spell, then he infused mana into his body and increased his speed to get rid of that group. He had realised that the other group had come close to around 200m of his house, they were in higher numbers, and there were several mages with them. ****************************** AN: I feel like I still have trouble with writting battles Chapter 07 – Extermination AN: --- ****************************** With his physical ability boosted by magic, it took him 5 seconds to clear the decoy group. Not just with his machete. He also released a lightning spell to get rid of the rest. It was an area of effect spell to take down as many of them in a single move. Then he directly jumped once to reach the roof, and a second time to land between his house and the attack group. ¡°... Yep, you guys really were the real deal¡± he said as he appeared before nearly 100 monsters. ¡°Dealing with all of you is going to be interesting...¡± There was around 15m between the house and Marc, and 70m between him and the invading army. Marc breathed a sight of relief because he had gotten there before they could reach his house. He concentrated on the mana in his property once more to be sure there wasn''t another group approaching from another direction. Satisfied with the result, he reported his attention to the opponents in front of him. He didn''t realise it, but when he was slaughtering the first group, he had released the same kind of pressure as what he had done when dealing with the dragon. It wasn''t on the same scale, but it was strong enough to make the monsters uneasy. Due to the anxiety they felt, they had slowed down their advance toward the house. And seeing him appear in front of them, they had stopped due to a budding fear. Marc observed the enemy in front of him. The majority were goblins, around 50. There were also around 30 orcs, around 20 hobgoblins and orcs of higher status, and at the back, what Marc though were ogres. 3 ogres. This group was better armed. The hobgoblins and high ranked orcs were either warriors with chainmail or plates armors, or mages with better staves, robes, and even a few magic accessories. There were 2 warriors among the ogres, one of them seemingly the leader of the group. The last ogre was a mage who looked like a shaman. Marc locked on the magic users. The more spells they would cast, the more he would understand about the magic of this world. Seeing the enemy hesitating to advance, Marc remembered some of the things he had read or seen before. Sometimes, a powerful character would roar at his enemy to show his power or resolve. A roar of defiance. Marc gathered a lot of mana toward his chest, neck and head. He silently breathed in, and held his breath for a 2 seconds while taking a big step forward... ¡°(BOOOM) WRRRROOOOOOOOOOOAAAAAAAAAAAAAAARRRRRRRRRRRRRR!!!!!!¡± A mighty shockwave traveled in an arc toward the enemies at a supersonic speed. A split second later, a loud detonation was heard, followed by a terrifying roar. All members of the invading army, including the 3 ogres, were blown backward several meters. All the goblins and some of the orcs got their eardrums ruptured. All were thrown to the ground, dizzy and unable to move much for a few seconds. The shockwave traveled beyond the premise of the property, making all the trees on its path, up to a few kilometers away, violently sway and even breaking some branches. *Crash!* Alas, even though it was directed away from the house. The noise was so loud that the windows couldn''t stand it. After vibrating for a few seconds, they burst appart. Some of the items made of glass inside the house got cracked. Thankfully, the glass protecting the solar panels was a protective one. And the supports of the solar panels absorbed vibrations well. The solar panels survived the ordeal. ¡°... Oh god, nooo....¡± said Marc as he heard the sound of glass breaking behind him. ¡°What have I done? My house, my windows!¡± he lamented with a sad and disgusted face. His gaze turned toward the enemies that were trying to get up and move. His eyes got dyed with strong guilt, anger and resentment. ¡°... It''s your fault...¡± he muttered as he once again released a very strong and hostile pressure. ¡°All because you came here...¡± He reinforced his whole body with mana. In his right hand, he held the machete, and infused it with fire mana. A hot, golden flame appeared on the blade of the machete. His left arm was infused with lightning mana, and got covered in big electric sparks. He left a deep mark on the ground as he seemingly disappeared from his position. Where he reappeared, his foot had crushed the skull of a goblins. The body continued to spasm while ejecting a large amount of blood. Looking down on it, Marc noticed that the creature had an erection and jizzed in its dirty pants. Even though he knew it was an instinctive reaction of the body to the threat of death, it only further raised his anger and disgust. The narrative has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident. ¡°... You... Filthy bastards!¡± he said with a quivering voice. ¡°¡­ You lot are dead meat¡± he added in a voice so low and cold, some of them downright fainted. All sense of unity in the group was broken. Any one of them was scrambling to get as far away from there as possible. Marc raised his right hand, and the flame on his machete burned with more intensity. He swung it. The goblin he attacked got sliced in 2, the cut area completely cuaterized. But beyond the pitiful victim, a large flame blade continued to travel, slashing and burning several other goblins. Marc took another step forward and punched another goblin with all his might. The poor goblin got his left shoulder and chest crushed and ripped apart by the blow. As he was sent sent flying backward with bloody pieces of his body, he was beat by the lightning discharging from Marc''s left hand. It struck any goblins and orcs behind the first in an arc, up to a distance of 15m. The inside of their body got half burnt by the high power of the lightning. 3 moves, 20 dead. The leader of the ogre gave an order, and his mage colleague gave another one. The elite orcs and hobgoblins shakily formed a blockade, with terror evident in their eyes. The hobgoblins and orc mages behind them started to cast magic toward Marc. Fireballs, ice spears, wind blades, and some spells that looked like a mass of shadows. Behind them, the ogre mage had started casting a different spell, and he was taking some time to do it. The third ogre was silently trying to circle the battlefield to attack Marc from behind. Even in his anger, in his killing spree, Marc still keenly observed his enemies. When they casted their spells, he observed the construction of the spells. When they were flying at him, he used something he had though of before when he was learning to turn mana into fire or lightning. Mana disruption. He had though about it after thinking of all the novels with magic he had read. In one of them, it was possible to destroy the structure of a spell and nullifying the magic by firing a mass of raw mana at the core of the spell. In the novel it was called ¡°gram demolition¡±. Marc had noticed that it seemed applicable to the magic of this world. And had tried it a few times, making a spell in one hand and sending a ball of pure mana at it with his other hand. It turned out to be dangerous. If the ball of mana wasn''t formed with enough ¡°toughness¡±, it would add power to the opponent''s spell, making it more potent, or make the spell run wild. Marc deliberatly choose to add power to the spells as they travelled toward him. The result was that the spells blew up before reaching him, killing or crippling anything between him and the casters. The row of defenders collapsed, severly wounded by fire and ice shards. Other were under the effects of the dark spells. As for the ogre mage that was casting his powerful spell, he suffered from a reversal of the flow of mana from his spell. It ruterned to his body, with added power, the spell didn''t activate properly, and violently dispersed into the ogre''s body. As a result, the ogre litteraly blew up, from the marrow of his bones to the blood in his veins and the grey matter in his skull. He turned into an expanding red mist, with barely any pieces bigger than a small coin. The ogre that tried to circle around was too big, and not acustomed to stealth activities. He couldn''t escape Marc''s perception, and was caugh by surprise when Marc dashed toward him at a frightening speed and punched him in the gut. All the electricity in his arm was discharged into the orc. The orc was fried from the inside, the liquids in his body vaporising and causing numerous steam explosions, even his eyes. He didn''t have the time to scream. Marc looked around after killing the ogre. There were around 10 enemies in a good enough conition to run away. Marc noticed that the ogre leader might have been the first to run away, probably while the mages were casting their spells. There were about 30 enemies on the ground still alive, groaning and moaning in pain. ¡°... You guys are noisy¡± he said as he walked toward them. A few moments later, silence had returned in the area. ****************************** AN: --- Chapter 08 – Magic improvements AN: ****************************** After the battle, Marc gathered all the 50 heads that were still in a good condition. The rest of the bodies were thrown beyond the walls of the property. He didn''t hesitate to go into the surrounding woods to gather some wood. He was certain that no animals or monsters would have stayed close after his display of power. He empaled 6 orc heads on sharpened wooden spikes, and placed them at the entrance of his property. The 44 others heads were placed around the wall of the property every 60m. He though it would serve as a good warning for future intruders. And he was certain there would be more. ¡°Goblins, orcs, ogres... In games and novels, these fantasy creatures usually aren''t that far away from inhabited places. There must be regular skirmishes between them and other races like humans, elves and dwarves... At least I hope there are some humans and elves in this world, some pretty elven girls¡± he told himself as he started to have weird ideas. ¡°Back to track! Under the assumption that there are humans and/or human-like creature in this world, they would notice any abnormality in the behaviour of their enemies... Or even with the forest. If there are civilised settlements not too far from the goblins, orcs and ogres, then it means they aren''t too far from this forest. If they aren''t too far from this forest, there must be regular expeditions in the forest since forests are full of organic ressources like animals and plants. And monsters as well.¡± Marc sighted in resignation. ¡°They would probably notice irregularities with the forest. Either on their own through the observation of the forest, or through the goblins, orcs and ogres, they will get a clue about my place. I killed more than 100 of them, and some ran away. There is a chance for them to come back here in the future. A magic spot must be an extremely valuable place in this world... I will not let anyone take my land and my house from me!¡± After saying that, he went back into his house to take a shower, a quick snack, and went to bed ------- ¡°This is too much!!¡± said the young man in an irritated tone. ¡°What the fuck is going on here?¡± ¡°That''s the reason the guildmaster sent us here Sayer. To find answers. Though I have to admit I''m also surprised. The whole forest is more chaotic than usual.¡± ¡°No need to be an elven ranger to notice that, Filarion. Scaled panthers, black horned boars, iron deers... Though those were on the weak side, they were still rank 4 monsters. They usually aren''t found that close to the border of the forest. Their usual living area should be further inside.¡± ¡°It feels like they were pushed back toward the outskirt of the forest by something more powerful than them. Going further will be more dangerous than usual... There may even be the possibility to come across a rank 5 monster. However, we can''t go back without any informations. We have to move deeper into the forest.¡± ¡°Rank 5? You think just you an I can handle a nightmare-class monsters? Filarion, we are already struggling enough against weak rank 4 monsters. We are just B rank adventurers, Filarion, B rank!!¡± ¡°I know! I know... Listen Sayer, let''s just continue until we reach the border with the next layer. We won''t go further than that. At the first sign of trouble, we will retreat full speed. The situation is just too weird to waste time. The request came from lord Devon himself! It''s too important to give up now. Considering what is happening, the lives of many, including our fellows adventurers, may be in danger.¡± ¡°My life come first. You know that. Now you want me to go into an area where I will most likely have a very hard time keeping it. Are you saying you can ensure my safety?¡± ¡°... No.¡± the elven man said with a bitter smile, which changed into a teasing one. ¡°But I''m also sure you won''t leave me on my own in this dark forest.¡± ¡°... At time like these I really want to hit you¡± he said with a dangerous glare, which softened. ¡°I will trust your skills and your elven intuition for a bit longer. But you can be sure I will get back at you later.¡± The story has been illicitly taken; should you find it on Amazon, report the infringement. ¡°... Like always¡± Filaron replied with a helpless expression on his face. Like that, the elven ranger and the human swordman continued their investigation of the Darkmoon Forest. ------- Marc woke up with a headache, as usual. He grumbled as he went down to the kitchen to eat a big breakfast. The little snack he took before going to sleep hadn''t been enough to satisfy his hunger after a day of work and a night battle. For the first time since he arrived to the other world, he put some music, loud enough to be heard in the whole house. It was a big playlist of animes and movies songs, 8h long. After listening to the music for nearly an hour, he went back to studying magic and enchanting. ¡°... I''ve learned a lot yesterday... Healing magic, fire magic, ice magic, wind magic, and even some kind of dark magic. The healing magic was an area heal spell, and by analysing it I should be able to uncover the basic ones. The fire magic was different from mine, less powerful, but also consuming less mana. Since I couldn''t tell the effect of the dark magic, I shouldn''t try it on me.¡± ¡°In the end, the way I change mana into fire or lightning is less complex than the way they cast spells, but the mana consumption seems to be triple for the same effect and power. If one isn''t as sensitive as me to mana to the point of seeing it, learning magic must be quite complicated. I can feel the transformation of mana, whithout that, if I had to learn from a teacher, it would have probably taken months... And I doubt there are many with such affinitiy and sensitivity to mana as me.¡± Marc had noticed that the fire magic used by the monsters ignited a natural fire using mana, then augmented the power of the fire and controled the form using mana again. Ice magic seemed to gather, compress, shape and freeze some of the water in the air using mana. Wind magic seemed to be creating air currents, so adding some movement to the gaz molecules, and compressing them into the desired shape. Healing magic seemed to force cell divisions by using mana as fuel, not using mana to make new cells. However, Marc wondered if it avoided side effects like cancers or lifespan reduction. From his understanding, cells could only divide a limited nimber of time. He wondered wether or not magic ignored it. And since the regeneration was forced by magic, he wondered if the body could know that the wound was healed and stop the cell division, avoiding unwanted growth of some parts. ¡°... Maybe, since we can use mana, mana one way or the other can somewhat communicate with the body, or maybe the body is accepting the help of the mana, and ignoring it when there was too much? ¡­ Sight, I don''t even know if what I said make sense... Let''s just practice for now...¡± So, Marc spent the rest of the day practicing the fire, ice and wind spells. He also decomposed each spells to try and isolate each steps of the spell''s formations. He didn''t want to practice the healing spells on himself and decided to wait until he got himself a guinea pig. He regretted not having kept a goblin or an orc alive. He started considering exploring the surrounding of his property. At the end of day, he learned that a mental image was necessary to cast a spell. Then a particular manipulation of the mana was necessary to ¡°programm¡± the spell. Select the elemental nature of the mana, shape the mana, input the desired effects, release the spell. Each spell can handle only a limited amount of power, more than that will break the spell. ¡°Tomorrow I''ll properlly compare what I learned today with what I discovered about enchanting, try to see common points between the behaviour of mana on geometric paterns and the behaviour of mana during spell weaving. It should be interesting!¡± ****************************** AN: No more updates for a while