Mana Is Visible
Margaret rose from her spot, facing the warm morning sunlight. "The day has broken."
She gently laid the black-haired man, who had been resting on her thigh, down beside her.
"Mwah... I have to go now. There's work I need to do."
After kissing the black-haired man's forehead, Margaret cleaned her body with magic and summoned fresh clothes to wear.
-Splash... splash...
"She's gone."
There was no longer any need to pretend to be asleep. I got up from the campsite and stretched my body.
This was all I could do for Isabella. As a bonus, by sleeping with the mage, I'd gained a new stat called mana.
"So this is mana."
A blue, rippling wind appeared before my eyes. The magical talent Margaret possessed was beginning to unfold within me as well.
"To use mana well, you must become friends with it..."
That was Margaret's mindset for freely wielding magic. Perhaps it was this very attitude that made her kind to everyone she met. Of course, her naturally kind personality seemed to play a part too.
"But would she really threaten Isabella?"
She was a suspicious mage, yet her gentle nature made me doubt that conclusion. She'd tried to save me and even stayed with me all night out of consideration. To anyone looking, she seemed far from being a villain.
"...She must have her reasons."
It was pointless to dwell on her. There were limits to what I could do. Worrying about it would only be meddlesome.
"This mana thing... it really gives off a sense of rejection from the start."
The moment I began to sense mana, a chill ran through my entire body and my stomach turned. The thought that it didn't suit me at all came immediately. Yet after seeing those flame orbs and the space magic from last night, I couldn't help but want to use magic.
"Let's try getting friendly with it."
I opened my mouth and slowly drew it into my body.
"Ugh...!"
A wave of nausea surged up. I endured it and savored the mana. It felt like pouring medicine that didn't agree with my body straight into my system.
"Gueeegh...! Cough! Cough!"
It was a failure. It seemed impossible to hold mana inside my body.
"How on earth does Margaret do this?"
I tried to force myself to endure, but I immediately threw up. Maybe this was why mages were such a rare class.
"Let's try again."
I drew mana into my body once more.
"Ugh! Kegk!"
Another failure. I kept challenging it. I repeated the process several times, trying to adapt to the mana.
"Cough... cough... Failed again, huh."
To accept this into your body and actually use it. I was starting to feel genuine respect for mages.
'For now, I should head back to the village.'
This place wasn't safe. Being outside the village meant anyone could approach and attack me. Syucali wasn't here either. It was the perfect situation for a sudden death.
"Where's my sword..."
I stood up and searched for my blade. I spotted it fallen beside the tent and picked it up.
"Hoo... I miss Syucali."
Looking at the scattered camping gear, I let out a sigh. I began picking everything up one by one and stuffing it into my backpack. The military packing skills I'd learned in the army came in handy right then.
'Good.'
With the heavy backpack slung over my shoulders, I walked toward Cashew Village, where both Syucali and Margaret had headed.
During the tedious march, I kept thinking. How could I use mana like a mage? All I'd received from Margaret was the mana stat itself. I hadn't gained any of her magical knowledge or talent. So right now, wasn't mana completely useless to me?
'I can see mana so clearly, yet I have no way to apply it.'
Watching the mana floating in the air, I felt a pang of regret.
-Whiiiish!!
Ting!
An arrow flew straight toward me while I was walking. I raised my scabbard and accurately blocked it.
"Who's there?"
I followed the arrow's trajectory to its origin and asked.
"It's a man's voice?"
"Jackpot."
Rather than answering me, the ones who appeared seemed more interested in confirming what kind of prey I'd be and were clearly delighted.
"Hand over everything you've got, oppa~"
"Or should we strip you bare?"
"Kekeke."
They were adventurers... no, it was more accurate to call them bandits. Just as Syucali had told me, there were those who preyed on adventurers and occasionally appeared on the roads.
"Busy from the crack of dawn, aren't you?"
-Siiing.
I set down my pack and drew my sword toward the female bandits.
"Kekeke, let's have some fun and send him off nicely."
The bandits moved at the command of the woman who seemed to be their leader. Roughly ten or more of them charged toward me.
"I'll be the first to suck you—!"
-Slash!
The approaching female bandit had her head cleanly severed in one trivial motion.
"How dare you!"
I shifted my stance to dodge the next bandit stabbing in from the side. Seeing my evasion, she followed through exactly—
-Crack!
"Gah!!"
She took the hit head-on.
"You can't even handle one damn man?! Everyone, rush him!"
The bandit leader grew frustrated as two of her own went down. Seeing that, I figured there was no need to worry.
-Slash!
"Grk..."
The charging female bandit's body was sliced clean through. Then I saw an arrow flying in from the side.
-Thwack!
"Kyaaaah! Why are you shooting me?!"
Because she'd dodged, the arrow had buried itself in the eye of a nearby female bandit. My sword immediately pierced through her chest.
"Can't use it if it's stuck!"
Typical bandit—utterly vile. The moment she saw the sword embedded in her comrade's chest, another bandit charged. I released my sword and clenched my fist.
-Crunch!
"Kyaaaah!"
The charging bandit's front teeth flew out. At the same time, two more pounced on me.
-Thud!
"Ugh!"
The bandits' blades grazed my body. A stinging pain bloomed from my shoulder and side.
"Grab him just like that!"
"This is getting annoying."
Instead of holding my position, I pulled out my sword and leaped backward.
"He's running!"
"After him!"
There was no need to recklessly take on multiple attacks at once. I created distance and fought them in a one-on-one tournament style.
-Slash!
"Grk!"
-Crunch!
"Kyaaah!"
I cut down the female bandits one by one as they approached, then hid behind a tree.
-Whiiiish!
Thud!
'The arrows are the most irritating.'
For bandits, they had surprisingly good accuracy.
"Hiding won't do you any good!"
"You planning to abandon your luggage and run?"
"Big sis will eat you up, so come out already!"
With their numbers greatly reduced, the bandits had become far more passive. They'd realized I was a man with some actual skill.
'I shouldn't fight them on the ground they want.'
Instead, it was better to lure them into a position where I could take them on one by one. After thinking about how to draw them in, I stepped out from behind the arrow-studded tree.
-Swoosh.
I pulled down my pants and let my cock dangle freely.
"If you want to eat it, come and try."
"Look at that crazy bastard!"
"What a total manwhore!"
"Fine! I'll eat you right now!"
My action must have provoked them, because the female bandits resumed their pursuit. I swung my sword at those who had entered my range. Viscous blood sprayed everywhere as I drove my blade into the neck of the last charging woman.
"The small fry are done."
Now I pulled my sword free and walked forward. Following the trail of bandit corpses, I retraced my steps. In the distance, I could see the bandit leader and the archer.
"He's definitely insane."
"Should we run, boss?"
"All the kids are dead. We have to see this through!"
I'd thought they'd flee, but it seemed they had too much resentment toward me. They drew their weapons and came at me.
"Then I'll just kill you."
I charged forward, sword drawn from within my blood-soaked robe.
"Hah! At least you're not pulling out like some weak pretty boy!"
The female bandit seemed to like me and immediately swung her sword. Its trajectory was sharp, so I dodged backward again.
"You're dodging instead of blocking?"
The bandit leader observed my movements. I suspected those sharp eyes were what had earned her the position of boss.
-Whoosh!
My sword thrust toward the bandit leader.
-Ting!!
She deflected my blade with a laugh. The force of the Deflection even stripped away her robe.
"Black hair? If I sell him as a slave, I'll make a pretty penny. Hehehe."
Was it a counter? Or a parry? She blocked my attack and sent me flying at the same time. Intrigued by the bandit's interesting swordsmanship, I reached into my hidden left hand and pulled out a potion bottle.
"What is that?"
"Experience it yourself."
"What?"
-Crash!
The black liquid I shattered against my blade spread like a plague. It coated my sword in darkness as I swung it.
-Clang!!
"What?!"
The bandit's sword was severed. I closed in on the startled woman as she stumbled backward.
-Crack!
I dropped low and swept her legs out from under her.
"Kyaaah! Gah! Ugh..."
She fell, her head slamming directly into a rock. The bandit leader lost consciousness on the spot.
"You bitch!!"
"Where do you think you're going?"
When the female archer tried to flee, I picked up a stone and threw it. It struck the back of her neck, and she collapsed pathetically.
'It's over.'
-Siiing...
I drew my sword and drove it through the unconscious bandit leader's throat.
"Wait..."
No—my sword stopped just before piercing the female bandit's neck.
"That Deflection technique from earlier..."
I found myself coveting that skill. Noble swordsmanship focused on evading enemy attacks had no technique for blocking head-on strikes. Therefore, I saw it as a defensive skill I desperately needed.
'Having at least one defensive technique wouldn't hurt.'
Before killing her, I decided to extract every possible benefit from the bandit leader as loot. Since she might wake up, I tightly bound her limbs and then violated her. Her body was well-maintained—clearly she'd lived well by stealing from others.
"Haa... ah... y-you... me... ahh!"
"Haaang! Ngh... ugh... uhh..."
"There it is."
The bandit boss trembled violently as she reached her climax. Afterward, I looked at the bandit archer tied up beside her, blindfolded with cloth and shivering in fear. There was something about this woman that caught my interest. I'd seen how accurately she'd aimed for my head with her arrows. Her precision was tempting.
Just like with the bandit leader, I violated this woman until I was satisfied.
"It's finished."
I got dressed and looked down at the two women with their legs spread, semen dripping from between them.
-Siiing...
I was about to draw my sword but stopped.
"..."
I sheathed it again. The desire to kill them had completely vanished. That said, if I just left them be, they would probably come after me for revenge.
"Hoo..."
I decided on a different approach.
"You two have been cursed by the black-haired one."
"Kuuu..."
"Huuu..."
I gathered my backpack and the bandits' loot, then stood up.
"If you continue your bandit ways and plunder people, you will die on the spot. If you want to live, try living decently for once."
-Splash... splash...
It was a lie that would likely be exposed soon, but it should hold until I returned to the village and rejoined Syucali. Or they might remain tied up and get eaten by monsters.
With all my business concluded, I left the area.
"Hmm..."
Killing fellow humans didn't feel good. Having just violated the female bandit leader had slightly dulled the discomfort, at least. Still, to survive, I needed to become colder. Showing mercy was no different from offering up my own life. Hostile people should be treated like monsters. Just like hunting monsters and taking their loot.
'So... for the time being, this is how I should use mana.'