Chapter 55: Stalled Progress

After buying only food supplies, I returned to the practice spot, took a nap until nightfall, and waited.

As night settled in and the time of roaming beasts arrived, inside my “Holed Balloon!” I probed the surroundings with magic-enhanced sight. Even under starlight my vision was more than clear enough. After confirming that, I took a deep breath and gently wrapped the balloon in a light “Updraft!”.

The balloon slowly began to rise, without wavering—exactly like the image of lifting a softball with both hands from below. It reminded me of an old poster of someone holding the Earth above their hands. Replacing Earth with a softball in my mind, then applying wind infused with magic, seems to have been the winning approach—if I do say so myself.

Looking down, I could see the magically lit dome directly below, untouched by the wind, confirming it wasn’t being disturbed. When the balloon began descending, I realized I’d forgotten to maintain magic output in the updraft and hurriedly reinforced it to keep the altitude stable.

That was close. I can’t forget that once I create an updraft, I have to add magic immediately.

After trying several cycles of ascent and descent—stage one complete.

Next, since I wasn’t sure whether the updraft was touching the ground, I changed the mental image to an updraft starting slightly below the balloon, lifting it from around its underside. With no visible change in the scenery under the starlight and no sensation of falling, I assumed it was floating properly—stage two complete.

I gradually increased the strength of the updraft, but the lights inside the dome began shrinking with distance. Before I got lost, I dialed the updraft back and descended.

Once my feet hit the ground, exhaustion washed over me and I noticed I was drenched in cold sweat. Launching with the balloon versus maintaining altitude while stationary were totally different levels of tension.

After calming myself with tea, I began practicing movement at around five meters of altitude—but this was insanely difficult.

I thought shifting my center of gravity would be the quickest way to move horizontally, but tilting a spherical balloon did nothing—it simply floated in the updraft. I did discover that enlarging the balloon allowed natural wind to blow it around, but I had no idea how to control its direction.

＊　＊　＊　＊　＊　＊　＊

“Hey, I’ve learned to knead magic and draw it out to my arms, but… I can’t remember the chant, or maybe I just forgot how to say it…”

“I remember it.”

“Rings, seriously?”

“Yeah. You stretch out the magic and extend it into your arms, right?”

“Right, and I can get it to my wrists, but what was the chant after that…?”

“Leon always said: decide what you’re creating and where, then ‘release the magic.’”

“And also the size.” 

Steve added.

“Steve, you remembered too? As expected of our leader.”

“Gale forgets important things sometimes.” 

Steve muttered.

“I remember as well. He said anything you create can be dismissed by saying release. Try making a shield. You decide where and how big, then—”

“With the shout, release the magic. The first step is to push it out, I think.”

“Gale, make it in front of me. Something big enough to hide me.”

Steve stepped away from Gale and spread his arms and legs.

“Go on, Gale. Make it in front of Steve.”

“In front of Steve… Shield…”

“Did you push out your magic?”

“It’s just… not coming out properly.”

“Like this. Shield… Shield… Shieeeld!”

“Oh, it’s form—”

A faintly glowing shield rose in front of Steve, but then Gale collapsed with his arm still extended.

“Huh? Hey! Gale, stay with us!”

“What happened?”

“Scott, we were practicing magic and—”

“He suddenly collapsed!”

“Look!”

Kyle pointed to the transparent, faintly glowing wall at waist height in front of Steve.

“Well now… he can use barrier magic. If it’s his first time using magic and he collapsed, then it’s probably mana depletion. Herb gathering is cancelled today. We’re carrying him back to town.”

“Agreed. No telling when he’ll wake up, and camping tonight would be awful. Make a stretcher!”

Under Mintz’s orders the boys scrambled to build one, their faces bright with excitement over Gale’s first magic activation.

*　＊　＊　＊　＊　＊　＊　＊*

After three days of trial and error, nothing seemed to work. Ascending and descending was no different from an elevator, but enlarging the balloon made it possible to ride natural wind currents—that was its only advantage.

Bored of training and tired of the freezing wind even though it wasn’t snowing, I returned to the royal capital.

With the cash in my pocket and what I’d deposited at the guild combined, I had about 15,000,000 dara saved up. I planned to ask Jaeger and the others to introduce me to a carpenter and see if I could finally build my long-desired cabin.

In the adventurer-only entry line I noticed a familiar back—carrying a huge load and getting kicked. They seemed like a proper group, so they should have a magic pouch. Someone must be forcing him to carry luggage as punishment or harassment. Whether he wasted his money on booze or brothel girls, he was clearly on the usual downward spiral.

I didn’t want him mouthing off something troublesome, so I concealed my presence and followed behind the group toward the guild.

The moment I peeked into the dining hall, I regretted it. Too many people—I couldn’t tell where anyone was. Even asking for Jaeger’s Fang would be impossible; both reception and the buy-counter were swamped. At this time of day the dismantling area would be packed too.

I decided to turn back, but then remembered high-ranked parties usually claimed the center area. So I reentered the dining hall, grabbed a mug of ale, and searched for a seat.

As I walked toward the center, sharp gazes shot toward me—but there, I spotted Grave.

“Hey, Leon, sit over here.”

“It’s so big in here that finding you was difficult.”

“You were looking for us?”

“You all said you were born in the capital, right?”

“Me, Jaeger, and Rick grew up in the capital—why?”

“It’s cold, so I’m thinking of building a small cabin. I was hoping you could introduce me to a carpenter.”

“Ahh, the dome alone is cold.”

“With Flame I can manage the cold, but a proper cabin would let me rest comfortably, and it wouldn’t be so bright inside.”

“Leon, with what you earn, you could buy magic-defense clothing.”

“I’ve heard of that, but what is it exactly?”

“Well, what we’re wearing is it. It has anti-slash, shock resistance, and magic attack nullification.”

Only after Jaeger pointed it out did I realize the matching knight-like garments they always wore were those—armor substitutes.

The knee-length poncho-like garment, made of wide cloth with a hole for the head, looked like a uniform, so I assumed it was just matching party wear. I hadn’t realized it was functional gear.

It had a subdued color, tied at the sides and waist with cords, and with its slightly high collar and closed front, it looked practical but stylish—almost like a haori vest. I really thought it was just fashion.

“With your income, you could have a full set made—top and bottom. Anti-slash, shock resistance, magic nullification, and temperature-control.”

“But I’m guessing it’s expensive.”

“Well… yeah. One set costs 4,000,000 Dara, and the gauntlets are 1,200,000 Dara.”

He rolled up his sleeve to show me—underneath was cloth in the same color.

“You can ask the Commercial Guild about it.”

“I don’t have that much saved yet, so I’ll wait until I have more. More importantly, do you know any carpenters?”

“A friend of mine runs a woodworking shop. If you tell him Rick sent you… well, he probably won’t give you a discount.”

That last bit made everyone laugh. Still, he told me about Balins Woodworks on Derency Street.

I decided to stay the night at the usual Martin’s Hotel, then change into the city clothes I ordered and visit the workshop tomorrow.

Meanwhile…

“Jaeger, that kid—he’s the one from before?”

“Yeah. He’s quite the mage.”

“So he joined your party?”

“We only went hunting together once. He earns steadily hunting birds, so he has no need to join a party.”

“He was alone back then too, and he seemed decent at scouting.”

“Compared to Dennis or Morgan he’s a bit behind, but for an average party, he’s first-rate.”

“So if we asked him to join—”

“He’d refuse. You saw it, didn’t you? He walked straight into the center of the dining hall without hesitation.”

“Yeah, people were glaring at him thinking a newbie wandered into the wrong place, but he didn’t seem to care at all.”

At Balins Woodworks

I rode the carriage from the hotel to Balins Woodworks on Derency Street. It looked like they mainly made furniture, but I decided to ask anyway and stepped inside.

“Kid, what do you need?”

“I want a small… wooden box I can sleep in.”

“A wooden box?”

“Yes. Inside dimensions about 2.2m wide, 2.5m tall, 4.5m long.”

“And the outside?”

“It just needs to be sturdy. I’m putting it inside a Rank-5 Magic Bag, so it doesn’t need outer reinforcement.”

“So you want it assembled here.”

“Is that possible?”

“If we build it in the back storage yard, sure. A simple box would run about 3,000,000 Darra. But what are you doing inside it?”

I explained:
— A door in the center.
— A bunk bed on the right wall (top bunk for storage).
— A toilet/shower room on the left.
— A long table along the central wall.
— Storage drawers under the bed.
— A shelf above the table.
— Ventilation windows beside the bed, above the table, in the toilet, and one in the ceiling.

The craftsman looked stunned, but when I requested strong, moisture-resistant wood, the cost rose to 5,600,000 Darra, cutting my funds in half again.

I paid 3,000,000 Darra upfront and arranged for the completed cabin-box in ten days. I’d need to earn more before then.