The Adventurer Who Lacks Magic Power

On the third day, I practiced shooting stone arrows I had crafted.

In light novels, arrows often shoot out of the ground, but I do things differently. I visualize the arrow floating in front of my outstretched palm, then it flies towards the target!

Thunk, a light sound echoed as the arrow hit the target 10 meters away and fell. Thunk won’t pierce through a beast. I need the speed of a bullet. I imagined tracer bullets from a machine gun, then shot the arrow with a swift Heyah!.

Clang, the arrow hit the target, but it disappeared afterwards. Alright, not bad. I adjusted the target to 10, 15, and 20 meters, but I had to stop due to my dwindling magic power.

Wait, how many arrows did I shoot? I hadn’t been keeping count. Next time, I’ll shoot at a farther target and keep track. I couldn’t afford to let my magic power go wild, jeopardizing my plans.

Speaking of which, I wondered about the difference between magical power and magical quantity. The priest mentioned magical power, and that old man, the noble’s representative, said something about having a magical power of 40. Maybe magical power in the context of this world was different from magical quantity in my knowledge from light novels. If increasing magical quantity meant I could cast spells more frequently, then perhaps magical power referred to the quality of magic?

Maybe magical power meant a magical power of 100 could make a 100-meter jump using all of one’s magic, whereas someone with a magical power of 40 could only jump 40 meters. If I increased magical quantity, I might be able to jump multiple times, even if each jump was shorter. It was worth a try.

I felt a surge of hope. I’d push my magic power to the limit and see if it increased. With plenty of food, I planned to stay inside the dome, exhausting my magic power to see if it would grow.

Waiting for my magic to recover, I first focused on reinforcing the dome. After a thorough safety check, I gathered firewood and cut grass, storing them inside the dome. It felt like building a hamster’s nest, but I didn’t mind. Lastly, I changed the targets to 30, 40, and 50 meters, making all necessary preparations.

The dome had become a bit cramped, so I dug the ground deeper and moved the remaining firewood and grass beneath the surface. I decided to use the dome only for magic practice and sleeping. I strengthened the dome and the underground space with my remaining magic power, then went to sleep.

Upon waking up, I realized I needed to know the time it took to recover from my loss of consciousness. I made a mental note to check the price of a clock in town next time I went. After having my meal, I created a narrow opening facing the targets and began practicing my stone arrows.

Initially, I lost with 43 arrows, then again with 43 arrows. On the third attempt, I used 45 arrows, within the margin of error. The margin of error accounted for the time it took to retrieve fallen arrows and refill the missing earth from inside the dome.

After about 30 rounds of practice, I could shoot an average of 50 arrows. I could clearly feel my magical quantity or magical power increasing. I changed the distance to the target to 40 meters, confirming that I could shoot 50 arrows in three attempts.

However, beyond 50 meters, either the power dropped significantly while maintaining the distance, or the number of arrows decreased to less than half. I confirmed that my magical power was increasing, but I didn’t know how much it would increase. I needed to keep exhausting my magic power to find out.

The remaining issue was the teleportation magic, but I was confident. I felt like I understood how to use my magic after constructing the dome with earth magic and practicing with the stone arrows. Magic was all about putting your magic into your imagination for it to manifest. Clear imagination was the key to successful magic.

After double-checking the safety of the surroundings, I stepped out of the dome. The bright sunlight outside made me dizzy after being inside for so long. I laughed at myself, feeling like a mole that had just emerged into the sunlight.

Once again, I checked the area and closed my eyes, focusing on the inside of the dome while gathering my magic power. The brightness disappeared from my closed eyelids, and I no longer felt the heat on my skin.

When I opened my eyes, I was standing inside the dome. I had practiced jumping in and out of the dome many times. It started as teleporting from outside to inside, but now I had progressed to the point where I could teleport within the dome. It took more than 50 attempts to achieve this level of control.

The remaining challenge was to determine how far I could jump in a single teleport. However, I needed to be cautious. I had to practice when my magic power was fully recovered; otherwise, if a beast attacked me during a failed attempt, I could end up dead.

Currently, I could jump 130 meters in one teleport, meaning I could jump three times if needed. I also tested my spatial storage ability, fitting a sphere of 1.8 meters in diameter inside.

It was clear that my magical quantity or magical power had increased. However, my food supply was running out, so I had to return to town for resupply. I started gathering medicinal herbs.

By the third day, I had collected a decent amount, so I headed back to town. As usual, I felt the unsettling presence of something around me. Probably wolves, I thought, but without any means of defense, I surrounded myself with a wall of earth. My training had paid off.

I called it a fortress, but this was my first real combat situation. Peeking out through a hole, I spotted the wolves. They looked like the rush wolves I’d heard about, their fur blending into the grasslands with spotted patterns. They were different from the usual black wolves, and they were larger.

They were impressive creatures. Despite my lack of food, I decided to test my “Pop and Close” technique against them.

Peering through the hole, I singled out what seemed to be the largest rush wolf, probably the boss of the pack. My plan was that if I defeated the boss, the rest would likely flee.

Considering its size, I envisioned a hole with a diameter of 1.5 meters and a depth of 2.5 meters. I took a deep breath and then, with a pop… it fell right on its head! This was unexpected. I struggled for a moment, but managed to close it up tightly. Phew.

After calming down a bit, I peeked outside. The wolf that fell into the hole was twitching, and other wolves surrounded it. I worried that if they stayed here, I would starve, so I decided to drive them away.

Since I still had some magic left, I shot stone arrows into the bodies of the prowling wolves. “Gyan, Gwaa!” they screamed, and they all scattered. Phew, what a relief.

Once the twitching stopped, I went outside and poked the wolf’s paw pads. No response. Thank goodness.

I couldn’t just leave it there, so I decided to make a cart to take it to the town. I cut two thin, long logs and attached crossbars, binding them with vines. I planned to create the wheels using earth magic.

It was impossible to transport it today, so I covered the wolf with dirt and made a dome next to it, where I spent the night with a full belly.

I regretted not having stored emergency rations.

At dawn, I removed the dirt I covered it with and lifted the wolf’s carcass with earth magic, then inserted it into the cart. After tying it with vines, it was time to head towards the town.

I was starting to feel unexpectedly wealthy, and my face was beaming. However, the cart was heavy, and under the scorching summer sun, I started sweating profusely.

By the time I reached the town gate, I was exhausted, but I had to go to the Adventurers’ Guild.

Arriving half-crying at the guild, adventurers going out for work stared alternately at me and the wolf on the cart. I placed the cart next to the entrance and went inside to report to the purchasing man.

“Kaito, what about the medicinal herbs today?”

Fuyusa, the woman who bought herbs, asked me. She looked at me, panting heavily, with sweat pouring down. My eyes were wide open.

“Fuyusa-nee-san, I have medicinal herbs, but I also brought a wolf. Please call Mr. Yahan for purchasing.”

In the morning, there were few people bringing in their captures, so Mr. Yahan for purchasing was relaxing in the back.

“Kaito, a wolf?”

“Mr. Yahan, I caught a rush wolf. It’s outside.”

When Mr. Yahan and I went outside, the adventurers surrounded us, talking excitedly.

“The kid brought this.”

Mr. Yahan asked the adventurer and nodded.

“How did you manage to get it? You can’t handle a rush wolf, can you?”

“I suffocated it by dropping it into a hole.”

“Suffocated?”

“I dropped it headfirst into a hole and covered it with dirt, so it couldn’t breathe.”

“Get lost, you’re in the way of our work. You guys, go earn your keep and leave!”

Mr. Yahan drove them away, allowing me to carry the wolf to the back where the dismantling area was.