Chapter 27
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Translator: Xrecker
Chapter: 27
Chapter Title: Skill Test (2)
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"Welcome, mister~!"
When I went to her office, Shasha welcomed me with a bright smile.
"Looks like you came by warp stone this time! Oh? Where's Ms. Pamela?"
"Pamela is resting at the academy."
"That's surprising~ I thought Ms. Pamela would have come with you."
"She was going to at first, but she used up all her energy in the morning's stamina training."
"Aha. For a mage, she's quite diligent to do stamina training, isn't she, Ms. Pamela?"
Even though I was the one making her do it.
"Hehe, so what brings you here, mister? Did you catch a new monster already?"
"No. I came to buy some things and to see you while I was at it."
"Really? What do you need?"
"Potions and magic potions."
Originally, there were no such things as magic potions in Lu-Fan.
There were only potions that quickly restored health and food that gave various buffs.
But when I first received equipment from Shasha.
Inside the warehouse, besides the green health potions, there was a blue potion bottle that looked exactly like a magic potion.
"Magic potion? Aha! You mean mana potions, right? Got it! Please follow me~."
So they were called mana potions, not magic potions.
"I just stopped by to say hello, so you don't have to show me around yourself."
"No, no, I was just wanting to stretch my legs a bit~ Since you're here, I'll show you around!"
Shasha led me to the general goods section of Cat's Commerce.
"Ah, Boss! What can I do for you?"
"Please bring me some potions and mana potions~ Ah, how many do you need?"
"I'll take 20 of each."
I had enough money from the funds I had received from my previous transaction with Shasha.
Shasha had tried to give me the potions for free, but since it wasn't included in our contract, I made a proper transaction with money.
In the first place, thanks to the contract, I was getting a 20% discount anyway.
After putting the potions in my inventory, I immediately left Cat's Commerce.
"Then I'll be going."
"Aw, are you leaving already? You could have stopped by a cafe nearby and chatted for a bit."
"I'll do that if I have time on my way back."
"Huh? Weren't you going to the Lucadia Academy?"
"The reason I came to Valendia this time is to hunt bandits."
"Bandits?"
Shasha tilted her head at the mention of hunting bandits.
"I got a new skill, so I'm going to test it out by exterminating them."
"Aha, so that's why you bought the mana potions."
"Yes."
"But to go hunting bandits just to test a skill... mister, do you have some kind of grudge against bandits?"
"No. But wouldn't it be better if there were no bandits? They attack people with a clearer purpose than monsters."
"Hmm~ that's true. Have a safe trip~."
Shasha, trusting in my skills, waved her hand without a single worry.
And as I was passing through the gates of Valendia.
"Ishihan!"
Someone called out to me.
When I turned around, it was Mr. Rick, the guard.
"Mr. Rick, it's been a while."
"Yes! It really has been a while. How have you been?"
"I went to take the academy entrance exam."
"Come to think of it, that was your goal from the beginning. So how did it go? Did you pass?"
"Yes. I passed without any problems."
"Haha, that's great!"
Mr. Rick, who had sneered at me at first, was now happy for my success.
I was quite happy myself.
"So what brings you to Valendia? What about the academy?"
"I just stopped by for a moment using a warp stone. I have some business to attend to."
"Business... don't tell me it's bandits?"
Was it because Mr. Rick had been watching me every time I went to hunt bandits?
How did he guess that I was going to hunt bandits?
"That's right."
"You... no, that's not something that can be easily resolved. Ishihan."
"Yes."
"Be careful not to get hurt. You just got into the academy. Now that you can look forward and move on, don't overdo it."
"Understood."
Seeing Mr. Rick worry about me so much, in a way that was completely different from his first impression, I thought that the saying "You can't know everything about a person from their first impression" was indeed correct.
After arriving at the mountain where the bandits lived for the first time in a while, I immediately started climbing and searching for bandits.
"Huh? Hehet, what's this. There's an idiot who's foolishly come into this mountain. Today's my lucky day."
And after about 20 minutes of being in the mountain, I found a group of bandit minions.
A group of four bandit minions.
Unfortunately, there were no elites or captains.
"His equipment looks good."
"But he's alone, and there are four of us!"
"Kihihihi! He's the first prey for us four brothers who are going to make it big as bandits!"
How were they going to make it big as bandits?
In any case, the people who became bandits were not in their right minds, so it was probably useless to try to understand them.
'And I have no intention of understanding them.'
Even though they were minions, there were four of them.
It was the minimum condition to test Severing Spear.
"Brother! Let's kill him quickly!"
"Alright, little brother!"
As the four bandit minions were about to charge at me.
"Severing Spear."
Conscious that I was using a skill, I recited the skill's name.
At that moment.
A giant spear fell from the sky.
Kwaaaaaang!
""Gyaaaah!""
As the spear hit the ground, a loud roar and a cloud of dust erupted.
I carefully observed the giant spear that was still stuck in the ground.
Just as I had seen in Lu-Fan, a spear with a blade wider than an adult man's outstretched arms by more than two times was stuck in the ground.
Below the spear, I could see one bandit who had been directly hit by Severing Spear, his body dismembered and instantly killed, and three other bandits who had been exposed to the shockwave of the spear's impact and were lying dead nearby.
From the looks of it, Severing Spear had not only pierced the bandit's body but had also plunged deep into the ground, with half of its blade buried.
However.
'Is this thing going to stay here?'
If so, I could retrieve it in my inventory and sell it for a high price at the blacksmith....
"Ah."
Just as I was thinking that, Severing Spear turned into light and disappeared.
Putting aside my slight disappointment, I closed my eyes and checked my body's condition.
The moment I used Severing Spear, I had definitely felt something being consumed inside my body.
That was probably my magic power.
I had only used the skill once, so I couldn't get a proper feel for it, but I could tell this much right away.
If I were to use Severing Spear consecutively, five times would be the limit.
If I used it more than that, I would definitely need a rest.
'I'm glad I got the magic power potion.'
If I had tested it before my magic power had increased, I would have needed a rest after just two uses.
Using the skill normally was a success.
The next thing to test was how to use it with reduced power, like Pamela.
After collecting the spoils from the four dead bandit minions, I set off to find the next group of bandits.
2 hours passed.
To put it simply, all the experiments were successful.
When I used Severing Spear while consciously trying to lower its power as much as possible, a Severing Spear that was one-third the size fell from the sky.
Of course, even at one-third the size, it was still a large enough spear, so the bandit who was hit was not just pierced but crushed, and the bandits nearby were also all killed by the shockwave.
Whether it was a bandit minion or a bandit elite, the fact that they died in one hit did not change, even if I lowered the power as much as possible.
Also, since I had used the minimum amount of magic power, I didn't feel any strain or fatigue even after firing five of the minimum-power Severing Spears in a row.
And the more I used it, the more I felt that Severing Spear, which was capable of long-range attacks, was very convenient.
It was perfect for when I was feeling lazy and didn't want to move myself to attack.
As a result of my tests, I found that I could make the spear fall where I wanted even from about 30 meters away, which was really convenient.
And since it would also emit a shockwave upon hitting the ground and wipe out surrounding enemies at the same time, it could be said to be perfect for dealing with multiple opponents.
Also, as a result of testing not only the summoning distance but also the height at which it appeared, I found that I could adjust it so that I could summon it without worry in a room with a high ceiling.
'It's not called an ultimate skill for nothing.'
As a skill that you would normally learn at the end, its power and convenience were outstanding.
While I was having fun with various experiments, I had already consumed half of the mana potions I had bought from Shasha.
And there was one experiment left.
To test how powerful a Severing Spear would be if I used it not with my normal magic power but with as much magic power as I could muster.
It was a waste to use such a big one-shot attack just to catch minions or elites.
So.
"Lead me to your headquarters."
"H-h-eek!"
Since I was going to use it, I thought I might as well use it on the leader.
I deliberately didn't use Severing Spear and moved myself, leaving only one alive and asking for their headquarters.
"N-no! I-I can't say something like that..."
Stab!
"Gyaaaah! M-my haaaand!"
After piercing his index, middle, and ring fingers in order, the bandit led me to his headquarters, crying his eyes out.
At the headquarters, there were six burly men wearing blue bandanas, a bandit with a red bandana who seemed to be the biggest, and several other minion and elite bandits.
"Huh? Who are you!"
"B-b-boss! I-I'm sorry... I'm sorry. E-everyone was taken...."
I finished off the bandit who had led me here by stabbing him in the back with my spear.
After pulling out my spear and shaking off the blood, I asked the bandit with the red bandana.
"Are you Belken?"
"Yes. I am Belken. But you... wait, that appearance...."
"Boss. It's him, no doubt! It's the bandit hunter who killed Rubid!"
One of the captains wearing a blue bandana pointed at me.
"Hohora. So you're the fearless bastard who killed Rubid. Hahahaha! Well, that saves me the trouble of looking for you."
"You were looking for me?"
"Of course."
With a shing, Belken drew a heavy sword and bared his teeth in a smile.
"Because the great Belken Bandit Gang can't be looked down upon. I'll kill you and avenge all my men who have died so far. And Rubid."
"Ha, for a bandit, you're quite loyal."
"Is there anything to be loyal about? Bandit hunter. If I cut off your head and put it on display on the road, the prestige of the Belken Gang will be even higher! Hahahaha!"
I see.
More than the death of his men, it was more important to Belken to spread the name of the bandit gang he had created by killing me.
A personality befitting a bandit leader.
"Kihehehe, as expected of the boss."
"When you cut off his head, leave the body to me! Let's skin it and put it on a dummy target!"
"Hahahaha! That's a great idea!"
Belken and his men, who did not doubt their own victory, laughed loudly.
Hearing them any longer would only hurt my ears, so I decided to start the test right away.
I used the skill, imbuing it with as much magic power as I could.
"Severing Spear."
"B-boss! A giant spear from the sky...!"
"What? What kind of bullsh...it...."
Kwaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaang!
[You have pierced the bandit leader.]
[Achievement: You have defeated the bandit captain Gerrick.]
[Achievement: You have defeated the bandit captain Donpa.]
[Achievement: You have defeated the bandit captain Jeratul.]
...…
[Achievement: You have defeated the bandit leader Belken.]
[Achievement Reward: 11 Points, 25 Fame]
[Achievement: You have acquired the title Bandit Exterminator.]
[Achievement Reward: 5 Points, 10 Fame]