Chapter 11

Summary of the previous chapter ------------------------------------------------------

The next day, we head to the forest to gather herbs.

On the way, we actually use our physical abilities and magic to get a feel for them.

"Are you done?"

"Whoa! Y-You were here?"

Startled by the voice from behind, I turned around to find Haruka standing there, seemingly out of nowhere.

It’s a good thing it’s Haruka, but if it were an enemy, it would be bad, right?

Maybe once we get used to fighting, we’ll be able to sense people’s presence?

By the way, Toya, who said he wanted to see magic, is swinging a wooden sword with great concentration behind her.

He’s even doing something that looks like a sword dance. Is that a skill effect? His movements are sharp and don’t look like those of an amateur.

"How was it? Can you use it?"

"Well, ‘Ignition’ can replace a flint. ‘Fire Arrow’ is powerful enough for an attack... I think. The question is whether I can hit a moving target. As for the space-time magic, it’s a bit iffy for now. If I have enough mana, I could extend the duration to carry more items back, but..."

"How about you, Haruka?"

"Light magic seems quite useful. There’s healing, after all. Still, I can’t heal major injuries yet, so be careful. Wind and water are level 1, so they might not be useful in combat. But being able to produce water will be convenient for daily life."

"So, what about offensive options?"

"Not much. At this point, I can only attract attention with noise or surprise enemies with water. We need to get a bow as soon as possible, or I’ll be useless."

"No, just being able to heal is a huge help. Besides, you’ve been taking care of us before we even fight."

Haruka shakes her head, looking troubled, but she wants us to handle the fighting for a while.

Not only does she have the "Common Sense of Another World," but she’s also more reliable than us, which is reassuring. ——It’s a bit embarrassing as a guy, though.

Also, to be honest, I’m most afraid of getting injured.

In this world, if you can’t work, you’ll end up homeless.

The value of Haruka, who can heal, is high enough just for that.

"By the way, I think the power of magic depends on the amount of mana used, but is that not the case for healing?"

"That’s the same. But... Toya, stop your practice and come over here!"

Toya stops moving and comes over, wiping the sweat from his forehead.

He seems pretty strong just in terms of his aura, even though he never did kendo in our world.

If this is thanks to "Swordsmanship" and "Sword Talent," the influence of skills must be quite significant.

"I can use simple attack magic. You seem to have changed a lot, Toya?"

"Yeah. My body moves on its own. I’ve gained a lot of confidence in my movements, thanks to ‘Sword Talent’ and ‘Swordsmanship’ level 3."

Toya laughs happily.

I don’t know how powerful level 3 is in this world, but he’s definitely not a beginner.

I want Toya to be a solid wall for us.

"As for me, I’m focusing on healing for now. By the way, here’s a note: the power of magic increases with more mana, but for healing, the range you can heal increases, not the depth of the wound. Be careful with that."

"Hmm... So, aiming for big damage is bad. We should focus on careful, small attacks?"

"Exactly. Especially, be careful with limb loss. Almost no one can heal that, so it’s practically impossible. If you can use magic, getting stabbed in the torso is better than losing a finger."

"Got it. I’ll be careful."

In a normal situation, a finger is more important than a potentially fatal wound.

But if Haruka can’t heal, getting stabbed is worse... I need to be careful too.

"By the way, let me explain some common knowledge about magic."

"Huh, now? Shouldn’t that have been done before practice?"

We can use it normally now, right?

"Of course, there’s a reason I didn’t do it earlier. I’ll explain later, but remember, we can’t see skill levels like we do, right?"

Yeah, we can’t check them casually like we do.

...Wait, I confirmed the spells I could use from the display and used them, but how do people in this world do it?

"Yeah, as Naoto noticed, people in this world don’t know what level they are or what spells they can use."

So, how do they do it? They either get a magic book or learn from a master.

A magic book only describes the effects and power of a spell, like a specification sheet.

In other words, it’s not "you can use this spell at this level," but "if you can use these spells as described in the book, you’re at this level."

"So, in simple terms, the level of magic depends on how difficult the spells you can use are, not the types of spells?"

"Exactly. I thought teaching this first would make it easier to apply, but how was it?"

"That’s..."

If I had been told that "Ignition" is a spell that lights a candle-sized flame at the tip of your finger, I might have used it exactly like that.

Avoiding fixed ideas might have been correct?

"I don’t really get it, but I guess it’s fine?"

"Sure, it’s fine. We can’t compare anyway."

Haruka smiles wryly.

This might be a kind of educational theory, but without a direct comparison, it’s hard to say which is better.

For now, since we can use various types of "Ignition," it’s fine.

"So, can we freely create spells not on the list, as long as they’re within the limits of our mana and control?"

Toya, who had been listening to our conversation and tilting his head, suddenly asked, and Haruka nodded.

"As long as your mana and control allow it."

"Wow, really! The possibilities are endless. I’m a bit regretful for not taking magic now."

"Let me tell you, it’s not that easy. I think the reason we can use the spells on the list and their variations is probably due to the evil god’s adjustment."

Usually, to learn a spell, you need to set a clear standard (usually according to a magic book) and practice repeatedly until you can cast it stably.

In our case, we were reborn with the skill levels already at a "stable casting" state, so we can use them normally, and probably their variations without much trouble, according to Haruka’s analysis.

"So, to learn new spells, you’ll probably need the same kind of training as other mages."

Haruka tried to use a spell not on the list with her best light magic, but it didn’t work at all.

It seems too optimistic to think that new spells will be added to the list and become usable just by leveling up.

"Toya, if you want to improve your sword skills, you might need to find a good teacher or train hard on your own."

"Well, since I already have the ‘Swordsmanship’ skill, it’s not the same as self-taught, right? What do you think?"

"Yeah, my body moves naturally. I don’t know if it follows any particular style... but the skill is amazing!"

Toya swings his wooden sword on the spot.

I have ‘Spear Talent’ and ‘Spear Technique’ level 2, but I can’t move like that. I can’t really grasp it.

"Well, if we can all move like this, it should be fine in the eastern forest. ——We’ve taken a lot of time, so let’s go while jogging lightly?"

"Sure, I don’t mind. Fortunately, we’re just wearing regular clothes, carrying wooden swords, and our bags are almost empty!"

"Right. We need to gather as much as possible to stay at an inn."

"I think we can earn enough for the inn, but we need to save up to avoid living day-to-day. We’ll run at a pace where we can talk normally without getting too tired."

"Got it. ——I want to get back as soon as possible."

We’ve been here for over an hour.

Without buying food, we can’t have lunch in town.

If we cut it short, we won’t be able to stay at an inn, and it will affect our meals for the next day.

It’s a situation that really motivates us.

◇◇◇

The three of us jog lightly—though at a speed that would be quite fast in our world—and after a while, we see a forest to the right of the road.

The forest starts a few dozen meters from the road, and its edge can’t be seen from here.

It seems to stretch for several kilometers.

"Is that the forest we’re aiming for?"

"I think so."

"It’s a pretty large forest. How big is it?"

"I’m not sure. As long as we don’t go too deep, dangerous monsters shouldn’t appear, so we’ll gather herbs near the road."

"Got it."

The forest seems to have been cleared along the road, and as we get closer, we can see old stumps scattered around.

"There are a lot of stumps around here. Did they cut down trees for wood?"

"Hmm, probably for safety. If the forest was right next to the road, animals or bandits could hide easily, right?"

"Yeah, that makes sense."

Indeed, it would be safer to consider the risk of attacks.

The trees left here are mostly small deciduous trees, which are not very useful as lumber, though they could be used for firewood.

"Alright, let’s start gathering herbs."

"Wait... I don’t know what herbs look like?"

"Me neither..."

I should have asked at the adventurer’s guild. I relied too much on Haruka.

"Don’t worry. I think I can identify them."

"Really? Are you going to give us a herb lecture?"

"No. I can sort of tell from my ‘Common Sense of Another World.’ Naoto, look at this grass and think, ‘I want to know what it is.’”

I look at the grass as Haruka points to it, and a semi-transparent tag labeled "Herb" appears over it.

"Huh? What’s this? Is there such a function?"

It’s like an AR display in an SF movie.

Since we can see our status, it’s not surprising, but...

"What? I don’t see anything?"

I point to the herb and say this, but Toya looks confused, alternating between my face and my finger.

Haruka nods, understanding.

"Of course. I just realized, but this is probably a help function. The information is similar to ‘Common Sense of Another World,’ but in my case, I didn’t notice it because I didn’t need to think about it."

"I almost forgot, but 20 points weren’t wasted. This will speed up herb gathering. ...But, did I space out too much?"

Maybe I lacked a sense of crisis because I had a reliable childhood friend.

Since skills are our lifelines, I should have verified them more thoroughly.

The ones I still don’t understand well are ‘Detection’ and ‘Insight.’

‘Detection’ seems important, so I should test it soon.

Haruka also has ‘Insight.’

"Hey, Haruka, have you tried using ‘Insight’?"

"Yes, of course. It seems to be a skill to check someone’s strength... or stats? It doesn’t work well on strong people. I could see skills on rookie adventurers, but with veterans, I could only tell they were strong."

Wow, Haruka. You’ve already tested it thoroughly...

It’s inconvenient that it doesn’t work on strong people, but it’s still useful to know if someone is above your level.

"We need to test it on monsters too."

"Got it. Let’s try ‘Detection’..."

I feel the same strange sensation of knowing how to use it and start sensing the surroundings.

I expected a radar-like map, but nothing like that appears. I can vaguely sense directions and the strength of reactions, and whether they are hostile.

Unlike magic, there’s no clear sensation of consumption, but it’s mentally tiring, so I can’t use it for long.

"How is it?"

"Yeah... I can sense biological reactions, but not clear hostility."

"I can feel that too."

"Wait, you don’t have ‘Detection’!?"

"Yeah!"

"Ugh, then my ‘Detection’ is useless?"

I used 10 points for this!

If Toya can somehow manage with his super senses, it’s useless!

"Maybe it’s a racial trait. But if you can sense things naturally, you might be able to get the ‘Detection’ skill soon. I can’t sense anything."

"True. Plus, more people with detection is better, right?"

"Yeah, but..."

I understand, but it’s still a bit frustrating.

"But it’s good that there’s no hostile reaction. We need to catch something for lunch, so check periodically."

Lunch wasn’t skipped; we were supposed to catch it on the spot.

"Lunch is going to be game, huh..."

"Right. You can eat wild plants, but they’re not very edible unless you fry them or something."

"True. Most wild plants are bitter. If you fry them, it’s mostly the batter and seasoning, with a bit of flavor."

Wild plants don’t fill you up much.

They’re rare and served in inns, but if they were sold in supermarkets like regular vegetables, I doubt anyone would buy them.

"We don’t have oil or flour, just salt. If we don’t catch anything, there’s no lunch. Both of you, try your best!"

"Understood!"

Skipping a meal is tough.

Since Haruka will handle the butchering, we at least need to catch something.

"Hey, Toya, what are you aiming for? Can you tell what kind of prey it is with your ‘Detection’-like ability?"

"Not really, just if it’s big or small. How are we going to catch it? We only have your wooden sword. I don’t know if your ‘Fire Arrow’ will work well."

"True. If it’s charred, we can’t eat it."

"Right. Birds are hard. Small animals like rabbits will run away. So, maybe something like a boar or a deer, or something that might attack us, would be good?"

"Right. The question is whether such animals exist in this world."

"Yeah."

"Alright, both of you. Let’s gather herbs first. Whether we can sleep in a bed tonight depends on it."

As Toya and I discuss hunting, Haruka claps her hands and points to the ground.

"There are herbs here, though I don’t know the types. We’ll gather them as we find them."

"Got it. This will save a lot of time."

When I look at the ground, the ‘Help’ function immediately identifies the herbs.

Without hesitation, we can save a lot of time.

"Hey, I don’t have ‘Help.’"

"Can you gather the obvious ones? And you have ‘Appraisal,’ right? Try appraising this."

Haruka holds out a herb that looks like garlic and gives it to Toya.

"Herb ‘Haworth,’ used for healing potions."

"Wow, ‘Appraisal’ gives more information. How about you, Toya, sort them by type and keep watch?"

"Huh? Sorting doesn’t require ‘Appraisal,’ right? If we can’t identify something, the guild will buy it, right?"

"True, but some might be hard to distinguish. They might look similar but have different effects. It’s better to know the effects if possible. We might use them in alchemy later."

Ah, plants can be like that sometimes.

Even with explanations, it’s hard to tell the difference.

"Got it. I’ll keep watch while you gather. Toya, focus on the obvious herbs and use ‘Appraisal’ to sort them."

Toya, looking a bit dejected, squats down and starts separating the herbs.