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Translator: Nonon
It seems that people with a lot of mana aren’t those who store a large amount of magic essence inside their bodies, but people who can take in and circulate a large amount of magic essence in their bodies.
The thickness of magic veins that circulate magic essence and the efficiency of absorbing magic essence seem to be important too.
I don’t know the details of how magic essence is absorbed in the body, but it probably works in a similar way as a cardio-pulmonary function.
Those who are scouted by the knight order during the ‘rite of independence’ are born with the ability to absorb and circulate a large amount of magic essence.
The quantity of mana can be trained and increased by continuously using magic.
I’ve heard that mana also increases during the period of physical growth.
That’s why I keep using magic.
By the way, running out of mana apparently doesn’t mean that the magic essence inside one’s body is depleted, but instead it seems to refer to the state where the magic stamina needed to continuously activate magic is exhausted.
No matter how big of a magic you can use instantly, you can’t use it in real battle if you’re out of stamina after using it only once.
It seems that there are other ways to increase one’s mana than just continuously using magic to practice.
According to the method, that’s closer to superstition, which I heard from the pharmacist grandma Karisa, you have to eat the heart of a monster raw right after it’s been killed.
Unlike people, monsters seem to be able to release the magic essence they store in the form of magic stones into their bloodstream and circulate it, strengthening their bodies.
The heart of the monsters is right next to the magic stones, taking on the duty to send the blood pumped full of a large amount of magic essence to the whole body.
Because of that, there seems to be a large amount of magic essence in the heart of the monsters.
By eating their heart, a large amount of magic essence is absorbed in the body and the ability to circulate magic essence suddenly improves, but I’ve been warned by grandma Karisa to never do it.
Eating monster meat raw is taboo in Fatima religion.
It’s not uncommon to eat monster meat, but it needs to be completely drained of blood and the meat must be completely cooked.
From the perspective of a reincarnator from Japan, it feels like the church’s ploy to prevent the intake of parasites inside the body.
If you want to increase your mana even at the risk of parasites, please do it at your own risk… that must be what they mean.
I do want to try it, but I don’t think I’d be able to defeat the all-important monsters.
For felans with inferior physique, even small fly goblins are dangerous monsters.
About 3 years ago, I started picking medical herbs in the mountains by myself.
Each time I entered the mountains, I would be wary of not only monsters but also wild animals, but there was one time when I was attacked by goblins.
That day I was also walking around the mountains while picking medical herbs and came across three goblins.
Fortunately, I was downwind and noticed the goblins before they noticed me so I decided to climb the tree and let them pass.
Goblins didn’t show any signs of being alarmed and started walking towards the tree I was on, squealing at each other.
The moment I thought that they’d pass like that, one goblin stopped and started smelling the surroundings.
“Gya, gyagya!”
The other two also crouched and started sniffing, coming up to the base of the tree I had climbed on.
“Giii, Gigya!”
I was hiding by sticking to the trunk, but one goblin started to climb the tree, so I decided to run away.
Fortunately, we were surrounded by a dense forest, so I made use of my physical abilities as a felan and was able to run away by jumping from one branch to another.
“You must be joking…”
I thought I would be able to shake them off easily, but the goblin that climbed the tree followed me along the branches, and the other two also looked up from the ground and chased after me.
Goblins have heavier bodies, but it still chased after me at a speed comparable to mine, even though the branches were bending down.
I was running away while planning out which trees to jump in, but the goblin was completely forcing its way through with brute strength.
On top of that, the two on the ground were trying to surround me while coordinating to not lose me.
Felans have great flexibility and high power output, but when it comes to their endurance, things become questionable.
At this rate, I would have run out of stamina and became goblin food.
However, whenever I entered the mountains, I was very careful to not come across monsters and I hadn’t neglected any countermeasures for when I did meet them.
I headed for the mountain stream while changing my course to avoid getting surrounded by the goblins.
The nearest stream flowed vigorously under the steep cliff.
If you fell, you would be swept away by a rapid that exposed sharp rocks, and at worst you would drown to death and even if you were lucky, you wouldn’t be able to escape serious bruising.
“Gyaa, gigya!”
Perhaps noticing that I was getting close to the stream, the goblin raised a sharp cry and speeded up, slowly closing the distance between us.
At that point it was only 10 meters away from me.
I jumped down from the branch, changing my direction rapidly to break through the encirclement of goblins.
I weaved my way through the bushes and left the forest, ran along the slopes of the stream and jumped through the crevice of a large rock.
The rock crevice was just large enough for my body to fit through and the goblins couldn’t get in.
That rock, that I arbitrarily named folding screen rock, looked like a folding screen stuck into the slope and since the top of the vertical cliff was overhung, it was difficult to climb it over.
Moreover, it was protruding greatly into the stream and the only way to get around it was to follow the vertical rock surface wet from water splashes.
The only way to safely go downstream was to go back along the stream and make a big detour.
After pulling the goblins away, I returned to the village along the stream and finally relaxed.
Perhaps the monsters and animals also understand the danger of being killed, so they rarely appear in the village.
If I hadn’t found a place like the folding screen rock while thinking about the worst case scenario, I would have become goblin food.
Looking from the village, there are a number of places to escape to: folding screen rock in the north mountain, the tunnel of thorny azaleas in the east mountain and the charcoal making hut in the west mountain.
3 years have passed since then, I’ve grown a little bigger and I can use magic too, but I still don’t have the confidence to defeat goblins alone.
My sky-attribute magic becomes easier to use with each practice, but it has a fatal flaw.
Solidified air is too light to use as a weapon.
Even if I try to slash at the tree trunk with air that’s been solidified in the shape of a sword, it doesn’t leave a deep scar.
The sword is light and I’m also light so my slashes inevitably end up being lighter.
At this rate I doubt I’ll be able to cut through hard skin and muscles to inflict fatal injury.
If I made it into a spear shape and used thrusting instead, I might be able to deal deeper wounds than a sword, but if I don’t strike the vitals accurately, I doubt I could actually kill anything.
Besides, goblins often move in groups.
Groups of three are still considered to be small and it’s not uncommon for them to move in groups of 10 or more.
It would be madness to take on multiple goblins when I’m not even sure whether I can defeat a single one.
If I can’t defeat them, I have to think about how to run away.
Right now, I’m working on further improving the Steps.
The Steps started as a smooth board at first, but I made its surface rougher to improve gripping.
Furthermore, I reviewed the surface material to add cushioning and elasticity like the running track.
By reconsidering the materials, there’s almost no danger of me slipping anymore, so I’ve started practicing how to position them accurately.
At first, I would place the Step, aim for it and step out, and make the next Step if I landed correctly, but that way I would be limited to only walking slowly.
So, as the next stage, I gradually sped up the process of making steps while moving.
I could practice anywhere because I can use steps even when I’m walking normally.
Thanks to my practice, I became able to keep up with a full sprint on two legs.
I also mastered setting up steps in a banked position to make suddenly changing directions smoother.
Right now I’m in the middle of practicing using steps in the fastest form of felans, full power sprint on all fours.
Well, having mastered sprinting on two legs, I should be able to escape even if I encounter goblins.
After all, once I climb up 10 meters from the ground while using steps, goblins won’t be able to do anything.
Keeping up with full-power sprinting on all fours is training in case I encounter even more powerful monsters in the future.
Once I master this, nobody will be able to catch me, except for maybe monsters that can fly.
However, as good as I’ve become at running away, the issue of improving my offensive abilities still remains.
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