Daily Life (5)

"Everyone! Gather to one side!"

Princess Elena Valencia was controlling the panicked students. In a combat situation, the most important thing is mental fortitude. If you lose your mind and give up when the enemy charges with a sword, you won't even get a chance to fight back. You'd just get sliced easily and move on to the next. The ancient sages' manual she'd studied as imperial royalty told her as much.

'Think at every moment.'

No matter how emergency the situation, the instant you lose reason and scatter is when the real hunt begins. It's no different from releasing wolves into a flock of sheep. Rather than let that happen, she decided they needed to think of countermeasures and huddle together to block the wolves' path.

"Those who can fight right now—let's form a subjugation team!"

So she recruited for the subjugation team. Artina Academy only had two combat departments: the Knight Department and the Magic Department. Elena believed without doubt that with them, they could take down the demon.

But they were all quick to run, didn't gather even when called, and to Siel Dunhart, who could smash them all single-handedly, they were just a nuisance. 'Annoying.'

Siel thought of the man she presumed was her Master. That day, when fathomless darkness swallowed the sky. The person who'd displayed a feat sweeping everything away in one strike.

'If it was him...'

Before she knew ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠it, Siel admired him. The power of the Master she'd seen for the first time held such immense strength. She'd always wanted to catch up to him.

'Couldn't he take down that demon in one shot too...?'

Siel stared at the demon. Phlak no longer saw the need to hide his demonic energy and was filling the space with it.

The ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠sheer volume of demonic energy was overwhelming enough to make her arms crawl ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠with goosebumps. And the feeling of infinite inherent mana. If it was the one she knew, could he really face that demon?

"I can do it."

Siel reached her conclusion and deployed her magic circle. Ice magic's unique crystals drew themselves on her back. If he could do it, she had to follow. That was the path to approaching her Master's realm. The path to her family's long-cherished wish.

So...

"I can do it too."

Dozens of icicles floated behind Siel. No, even that wasn't enough. Hundreds of spikes began filling the sky. Siel vowed it. She'd pour all her power into felling the demon and take one step closer to her Master.

With that resolve, the moment she launched her magic—

Pew—

Phlak collapsed from someone's invisible energy blast. Siel instinctively realized it.

'The second one...!!'

Master was here. She scanned her surroundings. It was so chaotic she couldn't pinpoint the origin. A magic missile that condensed should normally come with a huge boom. But this was Master's realm, after all. Such destructive power without a single sound...

If it was the one she knew, he'd have hidden by now. If he seriously concealed himself, there was no finding him.

"Then this time too..."

He helped and vanished. Realizing that, Siel clenched her fist tight. It meant she was still lacking. The burning desire to grow strong enough to catch him one day flickered in her heart.

......

Meanwhile, Rien Roderan was by the princess's side, listening to the strategy for supporting Siel.

No matter how fervently Elena spoke, Rien's mind was entirely on Kyle. Yesterday's shock had been that great. Her golden eyes rarely showed colors, and scents were usually faint too. Her ability couldn't be wrong, so she was pinning the reason on Kyle.

Her hunch was that he was actually an incredible talent surpassing even Siel Dunhart. Or that he held all sorts of info beneficial to the merchant guild. She spun her thoughts that way, but...

"No way that's possible."

Thinking of him building a house in the mountains because he couldn't afford dorms made her head spin again. The more she thought about Kyle, the deeper she fell into a maze...

"Hm? What did you just say, Rien?"

"Oh, nothing. Just talking to myself."

"Yes, we need to go help our Siel."

So while listening to Elena, she'd been searching for Kyle all this time, when—

"Ah, the demon!"

"As expected of Siel Dunhart!"

The demon fell. Golden energy swirled around it, and at the end, Kyle rushing down the stairs was caught in view. Right after, the faculty who arrived quickly began cleanup. Students praised Siel Dunhart and spread her heroic tales, but Rien stared at only one person.

"Kyle, you okay? Nowhere hurt...?"

"I'm fine. I was hiding."

"Good...! I was gathering friends to protect them... Looking for you too, but you suddenly vanished, I thought you were gone.... S-sorry!"

"What for—no need to apologize."

A boy conversing with Lumina Haloway.

"Hmm?"

Kyle. There was definitely something about him.

For now, the entrance ceremony ended like that. With the major demon intrusion issue, orientation was postponed to the next day. The faculty arranged early dismissal for the students' sake, so I returned home grinning ear to ear.

Perched on a tree stump, I opened my status window.

"Levels are shooting up nicely."

I'd jumped straight to level 15. The EXP bar was stuffed full. In a way, I was grateful the Demon of Replication, Phlak, showed up. The higher demons' levels get, the more they can revive, and they come with shields and high HP by default. But Phlak's abilities were so broken that his HP wasn't high. No shield, no revival. Well, with replication letting him spam skills like hacks, adding that would be broken.

"Time to invest stats."

This level up gave me ten investable points. Last time, I'd split them between Strength and Vitality. Sniper recoil and natural living were the main drivers for those. But...

"Recoil's manageable now."

With the rifle's evolution, recoil dropped noticeably, giving me leeway. So the standout stat was Perception. Intellect and Endurance help magic efficiency and combat learning... but not urgent.

"Perception first, then."

Perception literally means innate talent. It lets you learn and use magic faster and more precisely. Big difference in firepower too, and above all, to learn higher-tier magic, you need to meet the mana perception stat requirement. Basic magic at 10. Intermediate at 20. Advanced at 30. Elite at 40. Pinnacle grand magic at 50.

Of course, this Kyle guy's magic talent is abysmal, so I don't aim that high. Just simple ignition, water conjuring, magic-enhanced strikes, basic shield, gust (for AC). All basics, so...

"Gotta hit mana perception at 10."

It's at 1 now, so nine points.

I tossed the last point into Vitality. Still lacking there. Felt healthier coming back, but fatigue was real.

"Still, what better training than this."

Not just investables—even exercise and practice raise stats. Just commuting to Artina Academy bumped Vitality by 2. Low numbers mean good efficiency. Haven't started proper training yet, but once natural life feels sustainable, I will.

"So much to do..."

One by one: Hunt and gather for nutrition steadily, make a lunchbox container for class breaks. Borrow basic magic books from the library to learn those tactical basics, exercise and shooting practice. Gotta fix sniper's big weakness—melee somehow. Tons I haven't touched. Dust and cobwebs everywhere on the house, rickety wood planks. Planning a full overhaul. Need another jar for salt-cured jerky too. Gotta buy this one. "Once listed out, it's a ton."

Back as a busy dev, I romanticized rural life. Not even full countryside—just camping my own place in nature. Wow! Fresh air! Epic views! YouTube vids fueled those dreams, but reality hits hard. Food for a day is a worry. Four smoked rabbits left; three meals a day means one day's worth.

"Was gonna make jerky too, not just smoked."

Smoked aims for 1-2 weeks, but no dice. Takes too long, can't make much at once. Need efficient meals. Breakfast salad, lunch salad and meat, dinner meat. Hm, no muscle worries there.

"Hup—!"

No time to sit. Grabbed the iron pickaxe, shouldered my bag, and headed into the forest. Like that block game, aim for 64 saltpeter. That was the goal.

"Hoo—! One more set!"

Clang! Clang! Clang!

That day, I mined saltpeter all day. Meant for 64, but hated stopping so did a few more sets to wrap it up.