Hot Spring Tour – Bonfire
Ultimately, I ended up spending the night there.
The reason was magic energy depletion. The state of my arm was worse than I thought. And as I was using Heal repeatedly, I ran out.
I could not allow myself to lose consciousness here, I had to stop. And so I waited. Waited for it to replenish. And I carved up the ogres. By the time it was finished, it was around noon the following day.
There was not much material you could get from an ogre. Just the horns and magic stones. I took the magic stones first. I did not want them to turn into undead.
As for the hardened skin, it was not much different from wood after they were dead. So perhaps it was like the clay leopard, and magic was related to it.
I put the two corpses together on the ridge. Even now, their expressions were vicious.
“…”
I put my hands together and prayed. It wasn’t for them to be at peace or anything. I just felt like doing it.
Quite strange, since I was the one who killed them. But I suppose it was my way of saying they were worthy of respect.
“Status Open.”
Name: Ajifu
Race: Human
Age: 25
LV: 39(+1)
HP: 157/284 (+8)
MP: 44/178 (+6)
STR: 73 (+1)
VIT: 75 (+2)
INT: 50 (+1)
MND: 55 (+0)
AGI: 49 (+2)
DEX: 43 (+1)
LUK: 10 (+1)
Skills
Eralt Lv4, Reverse Age Lv4, Farming Lv5, Carpentry Lv7, Carving Lv8, Leatherworker Lv5, Gathering Lv4, Shield Art Lv8, Magic Manipulation Lv18 (+1), Everyday Magic(light/water/earth), Sword Art Lv19 (+1), Night Vision Lv3, Parallel Thought Lv5 (+1), Prayer, Light Magic Lv10, Amerata Lv2
Title
Visitor From Another World, Farmer, Blessing of the Ability God, Adventurer, Creator’s Blessing.
My level had gone up again after the fight. So did my sword arts. And not that much time had passed since the last level up. Clearly fighting strong enemies made a big difference.
I had been expecting Magic Manipulation to go up, but not Parallel Thought. Was it related to being able to control the energy in my sword? Regardless, I was grateful, since it was a skill I used regularly.
However…Sword Art Lv19, huh… Once I reach Lv20, I will be able to take the challenge of acquiring the title of master in this sword style. But I could not imagine myself being at the same level as them.
I started my descent, heading down towards the river. Obviously, I wanted to go to the hot spring. However, not to investigate it. Rather, I had to make sure the ogres didn’t have any children.
I probably should have gone yesterday, but it was possible that I would have to fight. And so I decided that I should wait for my arm to heal.
How long did ogres take care of their young anyway? How big would they be? I had no idea.
And so I went down the steep slope to the river at the bottom. The idea that the ogres had climbed up so quickly… Their strength was ridiculous.
I was a fox-like animal in the distance, but it ran away as soon as it noticed me. There were a lot of beasts in the area. Surprisingly so, considering ogres had been here.
The spot I had marked had a small stream. Steam was rising from it, and it was warm to the touch. There was no doubt about it now! It was a hot spring!
From there, I entered the forest, and there was an area where steam was rising from different places.
It did not smell of sulfur. I repressed my excitement for now, unsheathing my sword and suppressing my presence.
It would be pointless if there were ogres that had the same scouting ability. But it was just in case.
I hid in the bushes and waited, but could sense nothing moving close by. And so I slipped out of the forest, and headed to a muddy area, where there were many animal footprints.
They were large, humanoid imprints. Those of ogres. However, I saw nothing that resembled smaller versions of them.
I placed my hand on the ground, and felt the warmth. There were puddles too. Clear, but shallow.
“Hot!”
That was not a comfortable temperature at all. I tried rolling away some large rock, and hot water welled up from underneath.
Hmm. Hmmm. With some work, I should be able to increase the amount of hot water.
I picked up one of the white rocks and carved it. The white powder that came off looked like salt. It was what the animals came to lick, and what the villagers gathered.
So it should not be poisonous. But even if it was, I had a magic antidote.
I tasted the powder, and it was salty. A little bitter and sweet too. Perhaps due to impurities.
While I liked hot springs, I didn’t know a lot about their components. Though, I believed that salty hot springs were supposed to warm you up better.
However, even if I increased the amount of water, I could not bathe in it. I had to draw it out down towards the river. Perhaps make a pipe with my carpentry skill…
I suddenly realized something and raised my head. Yes, the ogres.
The power of hot springs was scary. Or should I say, charm.
The boulder that the ogre was sleeping on, and the area around the waterfall. I looked around, and found a lot of bones, but no traces of a younger ogre.
So it really was just the two of them. I sighed with relief. I doubted a young ogre would be stronger, but I also didn’t want to kill something that young, even if it was a monster.
Though, if it came to it, I would do it.
Once the investigation was finished, the sun had already started to set. It happened earlier up in the mountains.
As I had my Night Vision skill, being in the forest at night was not too bad. And since this had been ogre territory, there were no other monsters around. So even if it would cause the villagers to worry, I would camp out for one more night.
And so I prepared and gathered branches and made a fire.
While watching the flickering flames, I took out the magic stones. They shone under the firelight. They were fire attribute stones.
The male one was larger than my fist. About the same as the harpy queen’s. A light red, that was clear. The female one was broken in half. I must have hit it with my sword.
What should I do? I didn’t want to sell them. I wanted to keep them as a memory.
However, I still had the harpy queen, which I used when telling that story. At this rate, my bags would be weighed down by the stones.
When traveling, you have to be careful about what you brough. Sometimes, I even had to fight while carrying my things. If only I had some kind of inventory skill.
But there was no point in hoping for that now. I had no regrets choosing Reverse Age.
I put the stones away and stared into the fire.
It reminded me of the ogre’s red eyes.
I stood up with sword in hand, and walked over to a nearby tree. A young pine needle tree had caught my eye. I held the sword in a low stand and closed my eyes and focused.
Then I charged up the blade, causing it to shine. Then I took in a deep breath and stopped.
While focusing on bringing the energy to the blade, it glowed brighter. And the light illuminated the surrounding forest.
“Hyaah!!”
I shouted while exhaling, and then swung upwards.
The blade came out the other side of the tree smoothly. And then the tree came down with a crash.
Hey, I was able to cut it. With this sword. Maybe I should be a lumberjack instead.
After gathering the energy to one point, the sword had become a little lighter. But the sharpness was completely different. Though, the rest of the sword was likely less durable. So I shouldn’t use it for blocking.
I would still need to practice with it, and the magic depletion was great. But if I could use it well, it would make this sword a very powerful weapon.
I looked at the glowing blade under the darkness of the night.
There were some dents from the last battle. Even with the magic boost, it would be hurt if a stronger power hit against it. That was how severe it had been. I would have to sharpen it again when I return to the town.
I sat down by the fire again.
Took off my gloves and looked at my palms.
It was covered in callus. A rough hand that was far from pretty. The proof of many years of training.
I squeezed them into fists. Hard fists, with no shaking.
The fire crackled.
I looked up at the flames.
They burned just as before. But I no longer saw the red eyes of the ogres.
Thank you again:)