Chapter 18
Chapter 18
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 17
Chapter Title: Newbie Adventurer Bern (15) - Hierarchy
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『Cleanup』 grew more efficient as time passed.
At first, Bern had to assist by subduing the monsters and tossing them in front of Blanca.
But midway through, Blanca herself started blasting mid-tier spells like it was nothing and massacring the monsters on her own.
What had been Bern tossing them over for Blanca to finish off evolved into both of them hunting independently—while Renya took over fire prevention duty.
The monsters had no choice but to be wiped out down to the last seed, just as the literal wipeout order demanded.
"Here, give this a try! I may not look it, but I'm pretty confident in my cooking skills!"
The sky had darkened to pitch black by evening.
Bern took the skewer Renya handed him and swallowed hard at its aggressively savory aroma.
His clone body, a product of clone magic and sustained by the Crown Prince's mana supply, didn't require regular meals like ordinary folk.
But food offered some minor mana recovery, however inefficient, and above all, his sense of taste worked perfectly fine.
Crunch.
The moment he put it in his mouth and chewed, a scorching heat and rich, oily savoriness exploded across his tongue.
The wild, chewy texture and musky scent assaulted his senses, but it wasn't unpalatably gamey.
A distinctive powder sprinkled on the meat was doing a solid job suppressing the off-flavors.
Bern tilted his head curiously.
The taste felt strangely familiar yet novel, stirring some vague memory from his past life.
'Pepper's common enough here, so not that... More like mala sauce? Less spicy, but with a stronger aroma.'
Blanca, who hadn't shown much expectation, took a bite of her skewer and widened her eyes in surprise.
"It's not just sprinkled with salt?"
"It's a herb called Sharbi."
"...Isn't that poisonous? The stuff that stings your skin on contact and makes your eyes water if you get too close?"
"That's the one."
Blanca stared at Renya, who nodded nonchalantly, her face a picture of disbelief.
Renya chuckled and elaborated.
"It's rural wisdom from places short on ingredients. Soak it in water once, dry it out, grind it into powder, and you've got a great spice for masking gaminess, like this. Even shabby ingredients become palatable enough to swallow. That's its big appeal."
"No issues for the body?"
"Depends on soak time, but this batch is over two days old, so it's fine. Personally, I prefer a one-day soak—dried that way, it hits harder. Most folks complain it feels like their mouth's on fire, though. Oh, but some people sweat buckets and eat it on purpose because they love that kick!"
"Deliberately enduring the pain? That's one weird taste."
Blanca shook her head, but for some reason, Bern found himself chuckling.
He could picture the scenario all too well.
"I'd love to try that spicier version sometime. Could I trouble you for it?"
Blanca shot Bern an incredulous look at his words, while Renya beamed.
"Of course! I'll make it my best effort to satisfy you, big bro! Sharbi's pretty common, so it's easy to get!"
"You sure about this, Bern? What if you get sick?"
"Isn't this the thrill of adventure?"
Sitting around the campfire with his comrades, grilling meat and chatting idly—Bern savored this time immensely.
It felt like a balm healing his soul, worn ragged by endless waves of imperial drudgery.
Renya picked up on the relaxed vibe and grew even chattier than usual.
"Man, you two are insanely strong. No end in sight. I've done all sorts of quests as an adventurer, but I've never seen anyone clear this many monsters so effortlessly."
Renya's praise drew a modest headshake from Blanca.
"Bern aside, I'm not that impressive. By mage hierarchy alone, I'm stuck at 3."
"Different from adventurer ranks?"
"Totally. Adventurers are performance-based—skill plus track record. Mages are purely about mastery level."
Ever the guild receptionist veteran, Blanca explained in her clear, pleasant voice.
If you knew magic theory but couldn't cast, you were 1st hierarchy.
If you could handle basic spells useful for daily life, 2nd.
If you wielded practical spells viable in combat, 3rd.
If your mana itself gained a unique property, letting you showcase your personal flair as a mage, 4th.
If you could go beyond standard spells—altering their form or creating new ones outright—5th.
"Anything higher is stuff ordinary folks never glimpse in a lifetime, like mythical beings on clouds. Realistically, even 4th hierarchy gets courted everywhere as elite talent."
"But that's just one step from you, sis?"
"That one step is absurdly huge. Take Karina last time—her mana specialized in ice affinity, so for freeze spells, mana cost halved, power doubled. And that's a conservative estimate."
If a 3rd hierarchy mage cast a low-tier spell using 10 mana for 10 effect, a 4th could achieve 20 effect with 5 or less.
Even with comparable mana pools and same-grade spells, competition was pointless.
And this mana trait wasn't fixed—it scaled even better with the mage's growing prowess.
That explained why mages specialized in specific elements, shunning or struggling with others, she added.
"4th hierarchy—property infusion—is easiest by grinding one attribute nonstop to specialize your mana."
"Whoa, I thought it was like warriors sticking to their favorite weapon! Way more profound!"
"Not that profound."
"No, I, Renya, have had my eyes opened wide today thanks to you, sis! So if you stick to fire magic from now on, you'll get that specialized mana?"
"Well..."
Blanca hesitated at Renya's question.
Attribute specialization was knowledge she knew but couldn't bring herself to pursue.
As mentioned before, in forests like this, raw physical enhancement and sword swings beat firing fireballs for stability—and healers became routine with all the rough work.
Besides, her past self had a staff boosting power and efficiency, so dabbling broadly never felt inconvenient.
But now, no staff, and comrades handled other roles.
Ignoring miscellany to specialize in flames might not be bad. No—it was the fastest path to strength.
"..."
Her mind grasped it, yet Blanca couldn't decide easily.
Of her four spells, only 『Rock Burning Magic』 was self-taught from a scroll.
The rest—『Tree Burning Magic』, 『Body Slightly Strengthening Magic』, 『Light Wound Healing Magic』—came from her mother.
Ditching two "heirloom" spells didn't sit right.
She couldn't just resume them post-4th either; predecessors who tried suffered mana corruption and plummeted in skill.
Still.
'...No room for sentimentality.'
Preserving mom's spells mattered, but top priority was slaying the lich and freeing her mother.
And to repay Bern, she needed strength fast.
As she nodded to herself—
"No real need for that."
Bern, who had been listening quietly, cut in.
"In larger groups, mages can shine in niches, so specialization isn't bad—easier to train, too. But you're adventurers, Blanca. Better to stockpile versatile tools over pure firepower or efficiency."
Many mages couldn't master diverse fields due to poor aptitude anyway.
Bern felt it a waste for Blanca—who handled attack, heal, and buff across categories—to go specialist when even multi-attribute attackers were rare.
"Oh ho! Big bro's right! Versatility is an adventurer's ace! Makes me feel like I spouted nonsense. Sorry, sis!"
"N-no, it's fine."
Blanca tamped down her fluttering heart.
Bern voicing exactly what she'd hoped to hear made it race.
She was stunned at herself for getting so swayed by others' words.
Meanwhile, Bern pondered his own words.
'That was general advice, so no issue, but a pure warrior clueless in magic advising further? Odd. With the Essence Absorption ring, steady hunting builds strength anyway, but...'
His eyes fell on Blanca's sword.
Given her backstory, that was surely the blade her mother cherished in life.
Bern had swept the frontlines so far, leaving her no openings, but she'd said she swung it with buffs when fire magic faltered—so basic proficiency at least.
Hard to advise a mage on magic, but swordplay? No problem.
[Why bother a mage with sword stuff? Half-assing both wrecks both. Magic-swordsmen are all flash, no substance—you know that?]
'Not about me, but some substance-lacking prince somewhere might hear and be disappointed.'
[Er, uh—I mean, generally speaking! Good mentor conquers all?]
Bern ignored Lucidra's quick backpedal and spoke.
"Since we're on strength, how about training alongside the quest? Both of you—Blanca, Renya."
"Pardon?"
"Ooh! If big bro teaches, I'll humbly accept! Nine bows to start?"
"No need for that. Blanca?"
Blanca's eyes darted before nodding shyly.
A smile tugged at Bern's lips.
Warrior and mage tiers differed, but their power levels aligned roughly.
And 'adventurer Bern's' output clocked top 4th hierarchy.
To fell a lich at least 5th—he needed stronger comrades, too.