Chapter 17
#17화 Novice Adventurer Bern (15) - Hierarchy
『Cleanup』 became more efficient as time went on.
At first, Bern had to assist by subduing the monsters and tossing them in front of Blanca, but partway through, Blanca herself began flinging intermediate spells like ordinary attacks and could slaughter the monsters on her own.
What had once been Bern tossing them and Blanca finishing them off changed into a structure where Blanca hunted in her own way and Bern hunted in his own way as well (the fire-prevention role had been handed over to Renya), leaving the monsters to be ruthlessly butchered until they were, quite literally, on the verge of extinction.
“Here, try this! I, Renya, am fairly confident in my cooking, despite appearances!”
It was evening, and the sky had turned black.
Bern took the skewers Renya handed him and swallowed hard at that savage aroma.
Because Bern’s body, the result of duplication magic, was sustained by the crown prince’s mana supply, he didn’t need to worry about eating every meal like everyone else.
Even so, the food he ate could still help restore a bit of mana, and more importantly, he could still taste it normally.
Crunch.
A searing heat and oily richness burst the moment he bit down.
The rough texture and wild aroma unique to game stimulated all five senses, but it wasn’t so foul that eating it became a struggle.
That was because the distinctive powder sprinkled over the meat was suppressing the gamey smell quite effectively.
Bern tilted his head.
The taste was unfamiliar yet strangely familiar, as though it were calling up some memory from his past life.
‘Pepper… isn’t likely, since that’s ordinary here too. It’s closer to mala sauce, with less heat and a stronger aroma, I suppose?’
Blanca, who had not seemed to have any expectations, also bit into the skewer and widened her eyes in surprise.
“So it wasn’t just salted?”
“It’s an herb called Sharbi.”
“…Isn’t that a poisonous herb? The one that stings if it touches your skin and makes tears pour out if it gets near your eyes.”
“That’s right.”
At Renya’s calm nod, Blanca wore a dumbfounded expression.
Renya chuckled and added an explanation.
“A country trick for when food is scarce. If you soak it in water once and then dry it again into powder, it becomes a spice useful for suppressing odor, just like this. Even ingredients in miserable condition can be made palatable enough to swallow—that’s the real charm of it.”
“It won’t cause any problems for the body, right?”
“It depends on how long you soak it, but this has been sitting for more than two days, so it’s fine. Honestly, I prefer the version soaked for about a day and then dried, but whenever people eat that, they all scream that it feels like their mouths are on fire. Ah, though there are also people who like that taste and deliberately eat it while sweating buckets!”
“Eating something while deliberately enduring pain—what a bizarre taste.”
Blanca shook her head, but for some reason Bern felt like laughing.
He could roughly imagine what kind of situation it was.
“I’d like to try that someday too. Would it be all right if I asked for some?”
At Bern’s words, Blanca looked as if she couldn’t believe it, while Renya’s face lit up.
“Of course! I, Renya, will do my utmost to make something you’ll be satisfied with, Big Brother! Sharbi itself is a fairly common herb, so it’s easy enough to get!”
“Is that really okay, Bern? What if you get sick from eating it?”
“Isn’t that kind of risk part of the thrill of adventuring?”
Bern really liked this time, sitting around the campfire with his companions, roasting meat and passing time with trivial chatter.
It felt like his heart, worn down by endless waves of work, was being healed.
Perhaps Renya had noticed that the mood had loosened too, because he was joking more than usual as he spoke.
“By the way, the strength of the two of you really seems bottomless. I’ve done all kinds of requests as an adventurer too, but this is the first time I’ve seen people hunt so many monsters so effortlessly.”
At Renya’s words, Blanca shook her head.
“I don’t know about Bern, but I’m not that impressive. In mage-rank terms alone, I’ve only reached Rank 3.”
“Is that different from adventurer rank?”
“It is. Adventurers are judged by results, so it’s skill plus achievements, but mages are purely a matter of level.”
True to her experience as a receptionist, Blanca began explaining in a clear, pleasant voice.
If you know magic but can’t actually use it, that’s Rank 1.
If you can handle basic spells that help in everyday life, that’s Rank 2.
If you can handle practical spells useful in combat, that’s Rank 3.
If mana itself is imbued with a unique property, allowing you to show off your individuality as a mage, that’s Rank 4.
If, beyond simply using existing spells as they are, you can transform their form or even create them anew, that’s Rank 5.
“Above that are beings ordinary people will never see in their entire lives, beings above the clouds. Realistically, even Rank 4 is enough to make you an elite everyone will rush to recruit.”
“But that’s only one rank between us, isn’t it?”
“That one-rank difference is absurdly huge. For example, in Karina’s case from before, where mana itself had been specialized toward frost, I think frost spells alone would have cost half as much mana and dealt twice the power. And that was still a conservative estimate.”
If a Rank 3 mage and a Rank 4 mage used low-level spells at the same time, and the Rank 3 mage produced a 10-point effect with 10 mana, the Rank 4 mage could produce roughly a 20-point effect with 5 mana or less.
Even if they had similar mana and used spells of the same grade, in practical terms it wouldn’t even be a contest.
What’s more, those mana traits weren’t fixed multipliers; the more skilled a mage became, the more efficient they grew.
She explained that this was also why mages usually specialized in a particular attribute and either didn’t learn other spells or, even if they did, hesitated to use them.
“Rank 4. In other words, one of the easiest ways to reach the stage where mana is imbued with a property is to keep using spells of a specific attribute and specialize your mana that way.”
“Oh. I thought it was just like a warrior using only the weapon he’s best at, but it’s different! That’s incredibly profound!”
“It’s not that profound.”
“No, but still, Renya! Thanks to you, I’ve had a major epiphany today! Then if you keep using only fire magic from now on, you’d be able to gain mana specialized for fire, right?”
“That’s….”
At Renya’s question, Blanca fell into thought.
The attribute specialization she’d just explained was knowledge Blanca knew full well, but couldn’t bring herself to put into practice.
As mentioned before, out in a forest like this, it was more stable to strengthen your body and swing a sword than to shoot fireballs, and if you often dealt with harsh, dirty work, you would also end up using healing magic every day.
More than anything, because the staff Blanca had owned in the past improved both the power and efficiency of her magic, she hadn’t felt much inconvenience even while using magic so carelessly.
But the Blanca of now had no staff, and she also had companions who could take on other roles, so she didn’t need to do everything alone.
Then perhaps it would be better to ignore the miscellaneous things and become a mage specialized only in fire. No, that might actually be the fastest path to becoming stronger.
“…….”
Even though she understood that in her head, Blanca still couldn’t easily reach a conclusion.
Among the four spells she had learned, the only one she’d bought a spellbook and studied herself was 『Rock-Burning Magic』.
The other 『Wood-Burning Magic』, 『Body-Strengthening Magic』, and 『Minor Wound-Healing Magic』 were all taught to her by her mother.
In a sense, two of the spells that could be called keepsakes from her mother were things Blanca simply couldn’t bring herself to abandon.
Besides, it wasn’t as if she could simply say she’d use them again after reaching Rank 4, because she’d heard that senior mages who tried similar things suffered mana corruption and saw their skills drop sharply.
Still.
‘…I can’t indulge myself.’
Keeping the spells her mother had given her was important, but more important than that was defeating the lich and freeing her mother.
More than anything, didn’t she need to grow stronger quickly in order to repay Bern?
As she thought that, Blanca was just about to nod when—
“I don’t think there’s any need to go that far.”
Bern, who had been silently listening to the two of them from the side, cut in with that.
“For a group large enough, mages can show off their skills where they’re needed, so specializing in a single style isn’t a bad thing. It’s relatively easy to train them too. But Ms. Blanca, you’re an adventurer, aren’t you? Rather than pure firepower or efficiency alone, it’s better to have as many different means available as possible.”
There were plenty of mages to begin with who wanted to learn magic in different fields but couldn’t because it didn’t suit their aptitude.
Rather than that, Bern thought it was a waste for Blanca—who could learn and use magic in many different fields, from attack and healing to enhancement—to take the specialization route, unless it was for something like multi-attribute attack magic such as fire and ice.
“Ohh! Just as Big Brother said! For an adventurer, versatility is the greatest advantage. Come to think of it, I think I just said something stupid! Sorry, Big Sister!”
“Ah, no. It’s okay.”
Blanca suppressed the fluttering feeling in her chest.
It was because Bern was saying exactly the things she’d secretly wanted to hear, and her heart wouldn’t stop pounding.
She was even surprised that she was the kind of woman who could be this easily swayed by another person’s words.
Meanwhile, Bern was lost in thought as well.
‘What I just said was basically just general theory, so it isn’t a big deal, but even so, it would be strange for a pure warrior who can’t use magic at all to keep giving advice on magic. With the Ring of Absorption’s effect, I could still get stronger just by hunting steadily….’
At that moment, Bern’s eyes fell on the sword Blanca wore at her waist.
According to the backstory Blanca had told him, that was probably the very sword her mother had carefully maintained while she was alive.
Until now Bern himself had been the one rampaging in the front, so Blanca hadn’t even had a chance to swing her sword, but since she had said herself that when it was hard to cast fire magic she would strengthen her body and swing her sword, she must have at least the basic foundation.
Even if a swordsman can’t easily give advice on magic, there’s no problem giving advice on swords.
[No, why would a mage need that? If you try to awkwardly do both and end up failing at both, then what? Sword-mages are all style and no substance, you know?]
‘It’s not really about me, but if a crown prince who took that useless route heard it, that would be a truly disappointing thing to say.’
[Uh, ahem. What I mean is, generally speaking, that’s true! With a good teacher, what can’t be done?]
Bern pulled his attention away from Lucidra, who was hastily backpedaling, and said,
“Since the topic of strength is already on the table, how about we train alongside our request work? Ms. Blanca, Renya. Both of you.”
“Huh?”
“Ohh! If Big Brother is willing to teach us, I, Renya, will gladly be at your service! Should I start by bowing nine times?”
“There’s no need to go that far. Ms. Blanca, would that be all right with you?”
Blanca’s eyes darted back and forth before she finally gave a shy nod.
A smile bloomed on Bern’s lips.
The criteria for judging warrior and mage ranks are different, but their strength is usually treated as being on roughly the same level.
And the full strength that ‘Adventurer Bern’ could bring to bear was around the very top of Rank 4.
At the very least, if they were going to take down a lich that had reached Rank 5, his companions would need to be strong too.