Kays Translations

Chapter 22: Slightly delayed, but still vivid

Shortly after tossing the meat.

“Oh, here it comes!”

A school of fish came into view in the water.

All of them were monsters, so large and so fit that Ren had to hold them in both hands. Their epidermis was covered with thick blue scales, and their mouths were covered with sharp fangs like carnivorous animals.

Its name is Berserk Fish.

The sight of berserk fish swimming in groups was a little bizarre.

Ren’s cheeks twitched as he threw another piece of meat into the water.

“Kakakaka! 』

“Kaka! 』

The sound is made by berserk fish rubbing their fangs together.

A few of them leap to the surface as fast as bullets, aiming at the meat that has been thrown.

Ren saw this and swung his iron magic sword. He swung it again and again, each time a berserk fish appeared.

One, two…. ten, then fifteen, and in the blink of an eye, a pile of berserk fish that had been hunted was created on the water.

After nineteen berserk fish were hunted, the momentum subsided.

“I wonder if it’s okay for it to be this easy.”

The berserk fish, the monsters I mentioned earlier, have their breeding season in the winter.

The young fish that hatch from the eggs grow up in this lake after the surface is covered with thick ice, repeatedly eating each other whenever they become hungry.

They are famous for their ferocious aggression, which they unleash from their sharp fangs.

The name “berserk Fish” was given to the fish because of their aggressive nature.

As adults, however, they are surprisingly quiet.

They may prey on birds that come to the surface once the ice melts, but they rarely attack people willingly.

“It’s not much of an accomplishment because it’s so easy. I knew it was evolution.”

——

Ren Ashton.

[Job] Ashton family, eldest son

[Skill] – Magic Sword Summoning (Level 1: 0/0)

Magic Sword Summoning Technique (Level 5: 95/5000)

Level 1: Able to summon [one] magic sword.

Level 2: While summoning a magic sword, the user gains the effect of [Physical Ability UP (Small)]

Level 3: May summon 【Two swords】.

Level 4: Gains [Physical Ability UP (Medium)] while summoning a sword.

Level 5: Open up the evolution of the Demon Sword.

Level 6: Gain [Physical Ability UP (Large)] effect while summoning a magic sword.

Level 7: ＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊.

[Swords already mastered]

Magic Sword of the Great Tree (Level 3: 114/2000)

Allows attacks of about natural magic (medium).

The range of attack effect expands as the level increases.

Iron Sword (Level 3: 3039/4500)

The sword’s sharpness increases as its level increases.

Thieves’ Magic Sword (Level 1: 0/3)

Randomly steals an item from the target with a certain probability.

Shield Magic Sword (Level 2: 0/5)

Places a barrier of magical power around the attacker. The effect increases with the level of the sword.

The effect range can be extended.

Magic Sword of Flame (Level 1: 1/1)

The fire is the wrath of the dragon, the personification of power.

——

There were two major differences.

The first was that the level of the magic sword summoning technique was increased and the evolution of the magic sword was opened up.

As usual, the level of proficiency required to reach the next level is far and sad, but it seems that the next level is physical ability UP (large).

The other is the real deal.

With the opening of evolution, the wooden magic sword, whose level did not increase even after gaining proficiency, has finally reached the next level.

The name of the sword had evolved into the “Magic Sword of the Great Tree”.

“Oh, it looks cool.”

I can’t say enough about it.

Ren thrust the iron magic sword into the ice and with its sharpness it shattered the ice and sank, so he made it disappear and summoned the Magic Sword of the Great Tree instead.

His wish came true, you could say that.

The magic sword of the great tree that appeared in mid-air is not the wooden knife-like appearance that it had before.

It was a beautifully carved sword that could have been used for ceremonial purposes.

Speaking of curious things, there’s one more thing that comes to mind when he thought about it.

The power of natural magic (small) had been enhanced to natural magic (medium).

It was in Ren’s nature not to resist the temptation to try it out.

“Go!”

Ren looked around carefully, then, after confirming that no one was around, he swung the magic sword of the great tree.

As usual, he intended to let the tree roots and ivy grow.

Believing that he could use stronger nature magic, he was strongly aware of the assumption that he could use even stronger power.

But it’s only a change from (small) to (medium) nature magic.

He exercised the natural magic, thinking not to expect too much and not to be discouraged by it.

Then—-

“Oh?”

The tip of the great tree’s magic sword, which was swung down, was facing down the large hole in the ice.

From the depths of it, an earth tremor arises. The first time the sword was used, Ren, who had exercised his new power, twisted his head and looked at the situation a few seconds later.

“Ee—eeeeeeeeeeeeh!”

Numerous tree roots appeared, cracking the ice around the area, each of them undulating with a noteworthy thickness, so that even a giant maneater could have been tied up. This occurred everywhere in the large lake. Needless to say, it boasted an attack range and potency unmatched by anything seen before.

Faced with the unexpectedly high influence, Ren hurriedly drowned out its power.

The power was inversely proportional to the amount of magic power consumed, forcing him to change his mind that it was only a (small) that had changed to a (medium).

(It’s called evolution, after all.)

It’s a change that makes sense when you think about it.

But Ren continued to be amazed at how strong he had become.

The thick ice covering the lake is cracking everywhere, and already the momentum of the cracks is causing the ice to flow silently on the surface.

Ren exhaled and felt like he could rejoice over and over again that his magic sword had evolved.

But then he thought back to one thing that still felt underpowered. The flame magic sword.

He had tried to summon it many times since early spring, but the result was always a headache. The pain was similar to running out of magic power.

(I wonder if it’s because it’s so powerful to begin with, even if it’s not the Flame Sword Asval.)

When he tried to see if he could summon it again, he felt that the pain was slightly less than before.

It wasn’t a situation to push too hard, so he took a breath when he was able to confirm his growth.

He concluded that he was still not strong enough, and stopped thinking about the magic sword of flame.

Ren placed the large burlap sacks he had brought on the ice and shoved every single berserk fish he had killed into them.

After the bags were full, Ren carried them to the lakeside.

The snow around the lakeside made it difficult to walk, but Ren didn’t seem to mind as he headed home.

“Efficiency is good, but I’m going to have to go every day from now on.”

In case you are wondering, the legendary era of the Seven Heroes limited the amount of time that you could earn money as mentioned earlier.

First of all, the season had to be winter, so hunting had to be done as the story progressed.

Therefore, the hunting mentioned earlier was an efficient way to earn money that could only be done during that limited time.

However, this world is not a game. The number of monsters must be finite.

It’s not impossible to hunt them in the future, but if we continue to hunt them, the Berserk fish may eventually be wiped out and the ecosystem around us may be altered.

Realistically speaking, this is something we should avoid.

“—Even so, there’s no one here.”

Winter has its own monsters, but winter-only monsters rarely appear in this area.

Many monsters don’t show themselves unlike in the warmer seasons, so adventurers who target monsters that appear in winter seldom visited this area in the first place.

No one goes out of their way to fish for juvenile Berserk fish, and no one likes to fight a pack of them on the dangerous ice.

That’s why the place where he could hunt was a good spot.

Of course, merchants and travelers wouldn’t need to go there in the first place.

The reason why Ren didn’t meet anyone was probably the result of a combination of these reasons.

He thought about a lot of things, but in any case, it was a big catch today.

Ren, who had no time on his hands for anything but walking, almost unconsciously reached into his pocket while thinking about the magic sword of the great tree.

He took out the vial that Edgar had given him with a familiar look and clasped it in his palm.

“Maybe I should go to the guild and sell it, but I hear this monster’s meat is delicious……”

Just as Ren was thinking about berserk fish, suddenly, there was a small sound, like glass breaking, coming from Ren’s hand.

“……Hmm?”

Worried, Ren stops and looks at his hand.

He thought at first that he had broken the vial, because there was only the vial that he had just grabbed.

But it’s not so.

When he opened his palm, he saw…

“Ah, it’s broken!”

The crystal ball in the vial wasn’t scratched or broken in half. The crystal ball was shattered into pieces.

It’s not that he wasn’t surprised at the abruptness of the situation.

However, in order to master the cloak, this crystal ball was used to practice the handling of magic.

If so, then the impact on the crystal ball will appear as soon as the end of the crystal ball is reached.

It’s not a gradual effect, but rather an instantaneous one.

He was so deeply moved when he thought that all his efforts up to today had borne fruit, and his cheeks relaxed.

It must be a joyous day, as the evolution of the magic sword is now open.

Ren’s steps were very light as he made his way along the snow-covered beast path.

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