I Want to Live a Normal Life - Episode 5: Magic Modification

Episode 5: Magic Modification

It took about two months to complete the tunnel. The distance to the forest was farther than I expected, making it quite challenging. However, as I repeated the process daily, my speed and precision improved steadily, so perhaps Mine-kun’s sense is really amazing after all. I can’t tell for sure since there’s no point of comparison.

Anyway, once the tunnel was open, there were monsters on the other side. Fantasy staples like goblins, wolves, and rabbits with horns, and so on. Yeah, this is definitely a world of swords and magic.

“Why are there monsters roaming around behind the marquis’ mansion? Do your job, marquis’ household!”

However, there’s no use complaining here, so I need to figure out a way to defeat them.

Swords are out of the question. I tried swinging a stone sword created by magic, but my limbs moved all over the place; it was terrible. Back when I did kendo in school, I could move a bit better. Just to be sure, I tried other weapons, but they were all no good. The ones that were relatively better were one-handed blunt weapons like maces and small hammers, but they still didn’t seem suitable for fighting monsters.

“Is Mine-kun set to only be able to equip one-handed blunt weapons for close combat? Well, he is a magic-based character.”

In “Alteria Chronicles,” every character had weapon aptitudes set for them. For example, in Cain’s case, long swords were S-rank, great swords and short swords were B-rank, and anything else was G-rank, meaning he absolutely wouldn’t use anything other than a sword, as it was the intention of the creators.

On the other hand, magic-based characters had one or two weapon aptitudes in addition to items that assist in casting spells, such as spellbooks or staffs.

Exceptions were the protagonist of the original story, whose weapon aptitude was A for everything. Well, that’s probably for gameplay reasons; different players prefer different weapons. By the way, I used the classic sword.

Anyway, in Mine-kun’s case, it would probably be something like C or D for one-handed blunt weapons and G for everything else. I’m not sure about staffs, spellbooks, or ranged weapons since I don’t have any.

“It’s really inconvenient not being able to see the stats. Everything is trial and error.”

I tried it on a whim, but as expected, close combat seems impossible. Magic is still the main thing, as expected. I knew it, but still.

But with this, Mine-kun probably gave up too, huh? He seemed to have some attachment to swords after all. I understand the feeling of admiration, considering his father was the “Sword Saint.” To me, just a stranger, he seems like a toxic parent, but to Mine-kun, he’s his real dad, huh…

“This Stubble, seriously…”

…There’s no use saying it here. Let’s switch gears.

First, I’ll try shooting the basic earth attribute magic spells that appeared in the original story, [Stone Bullet] and [Stone Lance], towards the walls of the tunnel.

“Hmm, not bad.”

The new [Stone Bullet] had quite some power. Deep marks were carved into the compressed tunnel walls. There’s room for adjustment since it’s slightly off from where I aimed, but I’m satisfied with the power.

The problem is the time until activation. It takes a lot of time to shape and harden the stone bullet. At this rate, it won’t be useful for instant timing.

“I’ll just have to practice this.”

Magic is all about imagination. By repeatedly using it and engraving the movement of magical power into my head and body, the activation speed will significantly improve.

“But before that, I need to create a place for training in a deeper location.”

I’m currently in a place several meters underground, so there’s a risk of being noticed by people or monsters due to the sounds of training. There was quite a loud noise earlier. Plus, there’s the matter of explosion magic. I want an environment where I can train without worrying about noise or vibrations.

I just want to live a normal life, so I don’t aspire to be the strongest. But I do want to be able to deflect some degree of unfairness. It’s pathetic to rely so much on Mine-kun’s talent, but I’ll support him as much as I can, so please forgive me.

“I really want to knock that Stubble out.”

I feel bad for Mine-kun, but I won’t be satisfied until I give that Stubble a punch. However, even though he’s practically a mob character, he’s still the “Sword Saint,” so it won’t be easy to beat him. Plus, it’s not worth risking my life by making enemies with the marquis’ household. But well, if I get the chance, I’ll give them a little trouble at least.

“Should I mess up the ground in the training area and harden it like crazy?”

…I feel pathetic for only coming up with such petty retaliation.