Too Strong, Too Strange
From the moment morning came, I had become Mari's observation subject.
More precisely, the way she looked at me had changed.
Whether it was because of last night's magic, Mari stared at me throughout breakfast.
It wasn't a wary look. Not so much frightening as... the eyes of a mage who had just found a new specimen.
"...Why are you looking at me like that."
"When we head out on quests today, I want to see your magic."
"You mean... the lessons?"
"Observation."
"...That's a little scary."
Mari didn't answer.
Scary, sure... but maybe it's a good thing?
I didn't really know what I was doing either. Having someone analyze it from the side wouldn't be so bad.
Well, except for the part where that someone looked like she wanted to take me apart.
That was when Kaya quietly set down her water cup.
"If you push yourself today, I'm going to get mad."
"I'm actually going to be careful today...?"
"You say that almost every day."
"Uh..."
Once again, I had nothing to say.
The moment we arrived at the guild, Roy headed straight for the quest board.
I figured it would be the usual one or two postings, but Roy scanned the board once and reached out.
Goblin remnant cleanup.
Iron Tusk hunting ground clear.
Bush Spider colony removal.
Blackfang remnant tracking and cleanup.
Four quest notices came off the board all at once.
Roy went straight to the reception desk. Mari, Kaya, and I followed after him.
"Whoa, Roy hyung. Going pretty hard today, huh?"
"We rested yesterday."
"Uh... your definition of 'rested' seems a little weird to me?"
That was when a small stir ran through the people nearby.
"Four?"
"They're doing all of those today?"
"Well, if it's Roy's party..."
"Even so, if they take all of those, what are the rest of us supposed to—"
Luce's hands paused for a moment at that last remark. Apparently she couldn't just let it pass either.
"Um... excuse me. These are the kind that are normally split among several parties—"
Then Cedric ambled out from inside the guild.
He glanced down at the four quest notices for a moment, scratched his head, and swept his gaze around the room.
"Ah... anybody got a problem?"
At that single line, the guild fell quiet for a beat.
Cedric snorted a laugh.
"These have been sitting here for over three days. The pay's mediocre, the locations are mediocre, the danger level jumps all over the place... so nobody tore them off."
A few adventurers quietly looked away.
"Someone else offers to eat the leftovers you left sitting there, and now you're suddenly getting all precious about them?"
A low ripple of laughter spread at that.
One adventurer muttered under his breath.
"If the Iron Tusk area gets cleaned up, we can hit the eastern herb fields again."
Another nodded.
"I'd like the Bush Spiders thinned out too. Last time one of our porters almost got bitten."
"If the Blackfangs drop off some, night patrol gets a little easier."
The sour atmosphere eased bit by bit. Some faces still looked disappointed, but nobody stepped up to complain outright.
Only then did Cedric turn his gaze toward Roy.
"Alright. Give it a shot."
Luce looked back at Cedric with a flustered face.
"Um... is this really alright?"
"Among the parties in Bresen we can hand outer-edge cleanup to, they're the best we've got."
Then Cedric's gaze shifted to me.
"Just don't overdo it. You treat outer-edge cleanup like a joke and you'll get hurt in no time."
"Yes, sir!"
Beside me, Mari murmured softly.
"Nice. Plenty to observe."
"What am I, a lab animal?"
"A little?"
Luce looked up at me with worried eyes.
I gave her a small smile, trying to put her at ease.
No matter how you looked at it, this wasn't exactly a good flow of events.
The first quest was goblin remnant cleanup.
At the forest's edge, near some old tree roots, six goblins burst out.
There was a time when that would have put me on edge. Now I was calm about it.
Roy spoke in a low voice.
"Don't put too much power into it. Just try what I showed you yesterday."
"Swordsmanship?"
"Yeah."
Which one do I use...
Slow Sword.
Flowing Sword.
Severing Sword.
Swift Sword.
Deceptive Sword.
Heavy Sword.
Plenty of options, but they were still just goblins.
Finishing this fast is the right call.
Swift Sword.
The sword that reaches first only at the moment that matters.
I focused on my Heavenly Heart and slowly circulated my Aura.
One of them lunged first.
I stepped lightly and swung. Grey Aura flashed.
Whish!
But the blade skimmed past a shoulder instead of the neck.
"Ah...!"
"Too fast."
Roy finished off the goblin I'd missed in a single stroke.
"Uh... was I too fast?"
"Your sword got there ahead of your body."
"Aha."
The second one was different.
My feet moved first, and my breathing followed. The tip of the blade only at the final instant.
The grey Aura didn't wrap the entire edge.
Just a short line that reached as far as the neck.
Aura remained only there, thin as a thread.
Where the grey line passed, the goblin's neck split without a sound.
Oh...
The sensation lingered at my fingertips.
The feeling of my body finally catching up to the moment that needed to be fast.
What mattered wasn't that the sword was quick.
It was an imitation of the Swift Sword Roy had shown me yesterday.
Still crude by a long shot, but for the first time, that imitation had worked in a real fight.
It wasn't that the goblins had gotten weaker.
I had changed.
The next quest was clearing an Iron Tusk hunting ground.
Following the tracks gouged into the dirt path, four massive boars came into view.
Their tusks curved roughly outward, and muscle rolled beneath their black fur.
Oof...
One of them kicked off the ground and charged first.
"Kueeeek!"
In the past I would have scrambled out of the way, but this time I lowered my sword tip.
Heavy Sword.
Not a sword that smashes down with raw force, but a sword that leaves weight where it needs to be.
Stop.
Collapse.
Cut.
The spot where the charging Iron Tusk would plant its next step.
I set my blade low across that path and left the faintest thread of Aura there.
Ssshk.
Contact lasted only an instant.
But the Iron Tusk's front leg buckled for a moment. Its massive body pitched forward, and the force of its charge couldn't overcome its own weight.
Thud!
Its head slammed straight into the dirt.
I brought my sword down on the twisted nape of its neck without pausing.
Shhk.
Roy looked at me for a second.
"That last one was good."
"Really?"
"A lot closer to Heavy Sword than yesterday."
"Heh."
Roy's praise was short, but it lingered in a strange way.
It didn't show much on the surface, but he was happy about what I'd pulled off like it was his own.
And that felt... a little good.
Next was Bush Spider colony removal.
The moment the spider den came into view, Mari spoke first.
"No fire."
"Why?"
"You want to burn the forest down?"
"Alright, I won't use it."
Honestly, magic was the better call this time over the sword.
Most of them were bigger than a fist, and the large ones were the size of a human head. Spiny hairs bristled at the ends of their legs, and venom beaded near their jaws.
Mari's wind cut off the spiders' escape routes.
I laid a low sheet of cold under the brush.
I didn't push hard.
Not freezing the whole thicket — just the low places where their legs and bellies would touch.
Crack-crack—
Thin ice spread through the gaps in the brush. The spiders froze in place on top of it.
Roy finished off the ones that had stopped moving with his sword, and I followed behind him doing the same.
Kaya checked us in between, making sure none of us had been nicked by venom.
Crack, crackle—
The cold I'd laid low started to spread farther.
Frost began to form even on the tips of the leaves higher up.
Mari saw it and spoke at once.
"Pull it back."
"Huh?"
"Pull back what spread. Now."
"Got it."
I caught hold of the flow through my Heavenly Heart.
The cold that had been spreading folded back inward. The force that had been trying to freeze everything cut off, and the frost at the leaf tips stopped advancing.
Reeling it in was harder than creating it.
Mari looked at the place where the cold had withdrawn and said quietly,
"That just now... was fine."
"Oh, a compliment!"
"It's an observation result."
"Can't you just call it a compliment?"
"No."
Stubborn little...
The last quest was Blackfang remnant tracking and cleanup.
The sun had almost disappeared beyond the forest ridge.
The notice had clearly said remnants. But the moment we followed the tracks deeper into the woods, it was immediately obvious how careless that word had been.
Beneath the low rocks, dense brush tangled together.
In that shade, black-furred beasts crouched low, watching us.
Even at a rough count, there were more than twenty.
Before I could count any higher, the back of my neck went stiff first.
"There's a lot of them."
Roy's voice was lower than usual.
Mari muttered as if counting.
"Over twenty, easy."
Kaya immediately turned her head toward the rear.
"There are more behind us too."
I swallowed without meaning to.
The Blackfangs had us surrounded, but they didn't rush in right away.
One of them stood at the center of the pack.
Bigger than the others. Higher at the shoulder, fur darker. It wasn't even moving, and somehow it already felt finished preparing to move.
That's the leader.
Anyone could tell.
The leader didn't charge rashly.
I didn't move rashly either.
The two of us held still, one beat at a time.
Its front paw pressed lightly into the dirt. Ready to spring right. At the same time, its left shoulder sat low.
The moment I drew my sword, it planned to drive in from the left.
Cunning little bastard.
It was watching my movements too. Eyes measuring whether I'd use the sword or magic.
Step—
I slowly took one step forward.
The moment that thing moved, the pack would move with it. Then there wouldn't even be a gap to run. The only one who could take that thing out first was probably me.
"...Everyone, stay behind me."
"Siyun."
Roy called my name low.
"...Just trust me once."
Mari immediately scowled.
"What are you trying to do."
"That bastard. I don't think a normal attack is going to work."
The leader Blackfang's eerie gaze locked onto me.
Even in the dark, those yellow eyes alone were sharp and clear.
"Hoo..."
An ice lance — something that size could dodge.
Wind — a body like that could weather it.
And a sword ultimately needed distance.
Something that big and that fast would already be prepared for ordinary attacks.
So what was the fastest, hardest thing to counter?
"......"
Ah.
Lightning.
If someone asked me to explain exactly what lightning was, I couldn't.
Electricity.
Discharge.
Charge.
Potential difference.
I knew the words, and I roughly knew the principles. I didn't know them perfectly, but I didn't need all of it.
In the blink of an eye — light that punches through a body. An attack that freezes nerves and muscle for a single moment.
For now, that was enough.
My Heavenly Heart spun fast. My circles whirled hard in time with that flow.
Picture it.
A thick bolt of lightning stretching from my fingertips to that thing's chest.
I poured mana in hard.
Crackle.
A small yellow spark jumped from the tip of my left hand.
The corner of my mouth lifted on its own.
The beast's head snapped up for an instant.
Too late, you bastard.
──────────KRAAAAAAAAAANG!!!!!
A yellow line tore through the forest.
For a moment, the whole stretch of woods lit up like midday. The light arrived first, and the roar came after.
The leader's body jackknifed as if it had been thrown. Yellow light flared once between its black fur, then vanished.
It hit the ground without even managing a scream.
Sizzle—
The smell of burning brushed past.
In that moment, the forest itself seemed to hold its breath.
Mari lost her words. The tip of Roy's sword paused. Kaya stared at the spot with her eyes wide.
Only then did the Blackfang pack waver.
Like the command had been cut.
Like a breath had fallen out of rhythm.
"..."
I raised my left hand again.
One time had worked. So what next?
I pictured lightning again.
Split.
One into two.
Two into three.
At least right now, my lightning wasn't something I threw.
Build the structure, imagine the result, and let the power flow through.
What I needed wasn't raw force — it was splitting and control.
Crack-crack!
From my fingertips, the yellow line forked into three.
In that instant, three Blackfangs ahead twisted at once. Their legs gave out. Jaws fell open, eyes rolled back.
They weren't dead. They just couldn't move, like their nerves had been cut for a moment.
Crack-crack!
The three lines split again — into six.
Six branches scattered and raked through the Blackfangs in the blink of an eye.
Yellow sparks jumped between the brush.
Some foamed at the mouth. Some clawed at the dirt. As if their bodies wouldn't listen, every one of them just shook in place.
Behind me, Mari muttered low.
"You're controlling lightning... like that?"
She spoke sharply, like she was shoving the shock aside.
"Pull it back."
"Now?"
"Now!"
Reeling it in was harder than creating it.
Lightning didn't hold still like ice, it was sharper than fire, and it jumped more wildly than wind.
I caught the flow of my Heavenly Heart. Then I folded the scattered yellow lines back in, one by one.
Crack! Crack-crack!
The yellow lines scattered among the Blackfangs snapped out one after another.
The last spark soaked into the dirt.
Ahh, someone call me the Squirrel Thunderer...
The forest didn't burn.
The trees didn't split.
Only the Blackfangs lay sprawled across the ground, unable to move.
No window appeared in front of my eyes.
Not popping up this time.
That felt oddly unsettling.
And I was... far too fine. A little short of breath was all. No sense of my mana bottoming out, no tingling in my fingertips.
Even after using lightning against more than thirty Blackfangs, leader included.
"......Just now. How did you do that?"
Mari asked in a low voice.
I hesitated for a second.
If I had to explain the principle of lightning, it wasn't like I couldn't at all.
Electricity, discharge, nerves, muscle.
Honestly, everything we move and think with is electrical signals, and...
Ah, forget it.
If I explained it, it would just sound like nonsense to Mari. And more than that, I didn't understand it precisely myself.
There was also the part I'd pulled from those yellow eyes, but still.
"...I just imagined it and it worked. Lightning's fast, so."
"I really hate that answer."
Mari's voice had sunk low. This wasn't her usual snappy tone.
Her gaze moved between the fallen leader and the Blackfangs still twitching on the ground.
"This is really..."
Mari never finished the sentence.
What came after barely qualified as a fight.
Finishing off things that couldn't move, one by one, was closer to cleanup than combat.
Only after we were done did I realize.
Including the leader, there had been thirty-two Blackfangs.
Normally, the moment you ran into that many in a forest, suicide would look faster than running. Looking back after it was over, it had been far too easy.
It wasn't that the Blackfangs were weak.
I was getting stronger at a rate that didn't make sense.
The whole time we were collecting Mana Stones, nobody said a word.
Then Roy spoke first.
"We're way past the combat power that fits into ordinary residual quests now."
"...Me?"
"Yeah."
Mari cut in right away.
"But if you just dump him into big quests, his control still isn't enough."
"I sound like some kind of dangerous person."
"...About half."
No hesitation.
Kaya looked at me for a moment, then said quietly,
"So... we keep watching him together."
Roy nodded too.
"Another party wouldn't take you."
"Because I'm still weak?"
"No."
Roy answered without pausing.
"Because you're too strong, and too strange."
That left me with a complicated feeling.
These people knew I was strange, and they were still saying they'd stay beside me anyway.
Damn... that's nice...
By the time we got back to Bresen, the sun had already fully set.
Luce stared at the spilled pile of Mana Stones and couldn't find her words for a while.
"Goblins, Iron Tusks, Bush Spiders, Blackfang remnants...... You really handled all of them?"
Roy answered briefly.
"All of them."
"In a single day?"
Mari leaned back against the wall and spoke in a tired voice.
"Yeah. Even saying it out loud feels a little weird."
Luce flipped through the ledger and glanced my way.
"Everyone... is anyone hurt?"
"Nope. We're all fine."
"...I'm glad."
It was a small voice, but worry clung to it.
I lifted the corner of my mouth for no good reason.
"Oh, are you worried about me right now?"
"...I'm doing the settlement. Please don't interrupt."
Luce dropped her eyes straight back to the ledger. Only the tips of her ears had gone the faintest bit red.
"With this, the residual quests around Bresen are almost empty."
Tap. Tap. Tap.
With an easy, unhurried tread, Cedric walked out from the back.
"Whoa, you're already back? That was fast. Nobody hurt, right?"
"Yes, sir! Nobody!"
I answered right away.
Roy added briefly,
"We didn't overdo it to finish them."
Cedric looked at the quest board for a moment. Then he looked at us and laughed low.
"Man... this is a bit of a problem."
I tilted my head.
"What's the problem?"
Instead of answering, Cedric pointed at the quest board.
The empty spaces where the smaller notices had been. Behind them, a few old quests that had been hidden underneath now stood out clearly.
Looking at those notices, Cedric wasn't smiling anymore.
"When the residual work runs dry, the old ones are what's left."