The First Step of a Wanderer
The empty room. The blue glow spilling from the lone computer left behind. The red light pouring in through the shattered ceiling. Hye-in moved her purple-tinted eyes slowly, scanning the room. She had never been particularly skilled at sensing mana. But the crimson radiance radiating from the Trajectory of Bango helped her read spiritual energy with surgical precision. Thanks to that, she could immediately confirm two things. One: there was someone in this room who had manifested as a spirit body. Two: the density of that spiritual energy.
Even though they spread their spirit body wide enough to be detectable from outside, the concentration is comparable to an A-class mage’s maximum output.
She knew instantly that she could never win alone. That was why Hye-in immediately sent a radio transmission.
“Switching to Plan D.”
Her startled subordinate sent back a garbled reply, but—
—Wait… that…
It didn’t escalate into a major blunder, so Hye-in generously let it slide. She didn’t have the luxury of scolding her subordinate anyway.
“Hey. How long are you planning to hide?”
She walked over to the computer as she spoke, offering a suggestion to the invisible opponent.
“If you have even the slightest intention of resolving this through conversation, now would be a good time to show yourself. The President will be coming to look for you soon, and once that old man catches you, it’s over. He doesn’t negotiate.”
With that, she perched casually on top of the computer. But she hadn’t let her guard down. Her career could be summed up in two words: close-quarters elite. Ambushes and deception. In swordsmanship terms, techniques similar to iaijutsu were as natural to her as breathing. She even considered herself skilled at negotiation…
The spiritual body vanished in an instant.
Startled, Hye-in immediately radioed in.
“Gamma. Situation report.”
—Spirit body retreating!
Right after came the thunderous roar of countless artillery shells and the sharp cracks of high-grade magic rifles. Amid the deafening noise that sounded like the middle of a battlefield, Hye-in pondered deeply for a moment before sitting down in front of the computer. Fortunately, the keyboard and mouse still carried strangely shaped fingerprints that couldn’t possibly belong to a human.
Whew. That was close.
I never expected them to create a mana-jamming substance that could cover an entire city. If my spirit body had been even slightly similar to that of a demonic beast, I wouldn’t have been able to change its properties so easily and escape. And those snipers—almost every single one of them landed precise shots on my moving spirit body. Both the observer’s detection ability and the snipers’ marksmanship exceeded my expectations. Chungmugun, was it? So the military’s finally started recruiting awakeners like that.
My gloomy mood after reading that forum post about the Freedom Guild eased up a little. Flying freely through the sky also helped lift my spirits. I kept flying until sunrise.
Once I judged I was far enough from the city, I gathered the thinly dispersed spirit body back together. Like water droplets condensing in the air, the spiritual energy clumped at a certain density and began emitting a bluish glow. The result was my form being rendered in particles of light, like a 3D drone show. Worried someone might mistake me for a ghost if they saw it, I simply released the spirit body transformation.
A flying kid… yeah, better land for now.
I descended slowly while observing the ground. Fifty years had been more than enough time for nature to reclaim a single ruined village. Even the town and small factories had transformed into rather atmospheric modern ruins. Thanks to that, I was able to land comfortably on the road.
I planted my feet firmly on the ground and stretched. For humans, stretching improves blood circulation, but for me it was an act of recalibrating the mana inside my body. So it was a bit more forceful than usual.
“Nngh—gya!”
Every time I did it, a weird noise came out. I hated the sound, but it felt refreshing, so my mood improved anyway.
I walked briskly forward and finished the thought I’d been having earlier.
Now that I know their level, it’s about time I prepare some countermeasures.
When I manipulated the mana inside my body, a status window popped up on its own.
Creating Passive Skill
After that, every time a new mana pattern formed, more status windows appeared, but I didn’t bother checking them. Everything I thought would work did exactly as I imagined. At this point, trying to memorize them would probably just get in the way. You know how it is—whether it’s a test or a match, if you’re too stiff, you can’t perform at your best. Memorization is just practice to build skill. In real combat, it becomes a trap that kills flexibility. That’s my philosophy. Of course, you need the actual skill to be flexible in the first place, but I think I’ve reached that level now.
The fact that I can change my clothes this easily is proof.
With a soft rustle, the dress turned into particles of light and reformed into a short-sleeved top and shorts. Surprisingly, this actually felt more uncomfortable.
“So the Scottish uncles were right after all…”
Maybe the era in which humanity started wearing pants wasn’t actually that long. But a little kid wandering around ruins in a pure white dress would look suspicious. The most natural story would be that I was the sole survivor of an unfortunate accident in a place beyond the reach of public authority.
I was carefully thinking through the detailed setting when a post I’d read on the gallery came to mind.
When I first read this post, I was only interested in the fact that the old 38th Parallel had become dangerous again. But now it was perfect concept material.
Using a natural interference skill close to telekinesis, I pulled dirt from the surroundings and smeared it on my clothes. I manipulated the mana composing the fabric to create ragged tears in several places, then used static electricity to make my hair slightly messy. Ta-da. Orphan refugee, complete.
I molded earth and water into a full-body mirror and carefully evaluated the quality. It wasn’t bad, but…
“My base appearance is way too pretty.”
I turned my hand into dirt and rubbed my face like applying camouflage cream, but I still looked too cute. Those sparkling eyes and soft, flawless skin. No matter how you looked at it, my nutritional state was suspiciously good.
The problem was that, unlike my clothes, my real body was natural-world mana itself—condensed to the point of crystallization. To change its form, I’d need to reconstruct the principles of biological activity, including passive skills. So I gave up on that. Besides, I’d have to create an identity soon anyway. Maybe a cute face would actually help. Most humans are friendly toward cute creatures. It’s not for nothing that the slogan “cuteness is justice” exists.
After returning the mirror to nature, I started walking again. I planned to keep walking until a natural encounter happened. But the world was still too harsh for someone seeking that kind of meeting.
I sensed living presences in the distance. Thirty humans and five demonic beasts. Judging by their speed, the humans seemed to be driving vehicles.
Dew Lens
I created a lens a hundred meters above the location where I sensed the presences. The situation became instantly clear. One armored transport truck and two buses kicking up clouds of dust as they sped along. Chasing them were five large demonic beasts that looked like wolfmen—lycanslopes. For such a bright, open plain, having five boss-level lycanslopes appear was extremely unnatural. Even applying modern common sense I’d learned from web surfing, the situation felt off. The people being chased must be furious and terrified.
I added a vibration detection sensor to the lens and moved it closer to the transport truck. As expected, the soldiers were reacting exactly as one would predict.
“Fuck! I knew my luck was shit from the moment I woke up!”
“Lieutenant! At this rate they’re going to catch us!”
“Why the hell aren’t the reserves here yet?!”
“Send another radio!”
The transport truck was running at the very rear. Since all the people in the buses were civilians and the enemies were coming from behind, it was the natural formation. But the blonde woman who seemed to be the escort team leader apparently had a different idea. She broke out in a cold sweat as she agonized, then muttered with a face that looked like she was on the verge of panic.
“Overtake them.”
Every subordinate except one sniper froze. Some stared at their superior with faces that said she’d lost her mind. Others clenched their teeth and lowered their heads. The sniper smiled in relief and shouted at the driver.
“Didn’t you hear?! Step on it! We need to create a chance to counterattack even if it means sacrificing one of them!”
Immediately another team member lunged at him.
“What the hell are you saying?! When did the Lieutenant ever give an order like that?!”
The sniper, grabbed by the collar, answered.
“Are you slow? If we’re not overtaking to sacrifice someone, then what the hell are we overtaking for?”
“Maybe she just misspoke.”
“Don’t talk nonsense. What other option is there in this situation?”
“So the escort team is just going to abandon the people they’re supposed to protect?!”
“Who said we’re abandoning all of them?! I’m saying we sacrifice one of the two groups!”
“You call that a suggestion, you idiot?!”
The moment the team member raised his fist—
“Stop!!!”
The woman wearing a lieutenant’s insignia on her shoulder personally cleared up the misunderstanding.
“I meant we sacrifice one vehicle. I’ll take full responsibility, so hurry up and overtake them.”