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Chapter 10: Practice and Meditation
Tatsurou tried casting fatigue recovery from [Life Magic] immediately.
At first, he tried the same thing as when he was drying the clothes. Circulating his mana around his own body, he pictured a tug of war within him. However, in contrast to when he was using [Water Magic], nothing happened. Without a concrete idea of what fatigue is, he was unable to activate  [Life Magic].
Hence, taking reference from his science lessons back on Earth, Tatsurou pinpointed the exhausted parts of his body, including the muscles and internal organs, and massaged them using the mana in his body to let the blood flow faster.
Continuing that for 5 minutes, he felt his body gradually getting lighter.
“Fuuuu….”
[Skill [Focus] acquired.]
Dropping his shoulders after the recovery session, he heard the announcement.
“Huh?”
“Did it fail?”
“No… I had no problems on that part. I can walk without too much difficulty now.”
“Then what…?”
Trying to find the right words to explain to Ai, who tilted her head at him, Tatsurou checked the skill description.
“I just learned a skill named [Focus]. Seems like it helps me in times when I need to concentrate on something.”
“Hmm, I think I can learn that too. Do you think it’s covered by [Valkyrie]?”
“I can’t really tell if it’s a skill that’s a part of Martial Arts. Isn’t it better to assume that it isn’t?”
“That’s true. If we’re talking about concentration, I would have already learnt it if it’s a part of Martial Arts as I was super concentrated back in the fight against the blech.”
“Tsk.”
Ai pouted her lips.
Seeing that, Tatsurou brushed her head and said “Shall we?”
With that, the two continued on their path downstream.
An hour passed by after they started walking.
“Ughh.”
“‘d something happen?”
Hearing Tatsurou suddenly groan, Ai replied back in a somewhat carefree manner.
“Nah… It’s just that I have a surplus of SP, so I don’t know where to use them…”
“Wouldn’t it be reasonable if you learn the other attributes or just level up the ones you have now?”
“Fair enough, considering that I’m basically cannon fodder right now. Even I want to have an attack skill that helps in battles.”
Right now, the thing that Tatsurou feared most was becoming an all-around handyman.
While Ai doesn’t mind if Tatsurou left every battle to her, it wasn’t something that he himself desires, especially for dangerous ones.
“If you’re looking for offensive magic, then fire seems like a good choice. Right now, when you can only make your mana take the form of an attribute, fire looks like it will be the most effective.”
“True, I have that on my list too. There’s also lightning that can paralyze enemies to buy time for [Level Eater] and then… Ahhh, it’s too much for my head! I’m getting [Fire Magic] to Lv 5!”
“Oh, isn’t that the one I recommended?”
“Well, if we’re to think logically, maxing out fire first is expected since it has the lowest SP cost.”
“I see. You took it third so it’s cheaper to max it out, huh?”
“Yep. Then, I’ll finish it in a bit…”
Using 6 SP to raise Fire Magic to Lv 2, Tatsurou burned a total of 42 SP for [Fire Magic Lv 5], leaving him with 18 SP to spare.[1]
“Then, let’s check out the might of a Lv 5 magic! Ai, stand a bit further, please.”
“Roger that!”
After confirming that Ai was a small distance away from him, Tatsurou activated the strengthened [Fire Magic] for the first time. Taking a stance, he allowed his body to carry out the magic activation sequence on its own.
The magic’s release flowed gracefully through his body and movement without stop.
It was different to that of Lv 1. Stretching out his hand with his palm dancing out, the amount of mana swirling inside him was incomparable to before. The skill-default sphere started forming on his palm.
““Huge.””
From the apple-sized ember of Lv 1, the fireball grew larger until 2 meters in diameter.
“Tatsurou, doesn’t it feel hot on your skin?”
“Nope. Can’t feel a thing!”
Though Ai was worried about the fire, Tatsurou felt nothing while it continued to rage on with a thunderous sound, floating right beside him. He then focused on changing the shape of the fire, turning it into the shape of a triangle, a square, a pentagram, a spade and even a heart.
Next, he tried reducing the volume of the fire. Compressing it, the inferno blazed on while Tatsurou felt its temperature rising higher and higher. Once it was reduced to the size of a basketball, he felt that he had reached a limit and suddenly expanded it out before vanishing completely.
“Amazing! That one actually felt like real magic!”
“Yeah! Same feeling here, like I was actually using magic. Well, thanks to that, I’m out of mana so I need to rest for a bit.”
“Really? That’s a bit regrettable.”
“To be fair, while we’re in this forest, you’ll get to see it until you get tired of it.”
“That’s true too.”
Ending the conversation with a shrug of their shoulders, they once again continued their path downstream.
With a few small breaks in between, a few more hours passed until the skies began to darken. Seeing that, they started to plan their course of action for the night.
“Normally, it would be an alternating night watch and we take turns getting some sleep… or something like that, right?”
“Yeah. There are also the nocturnal creatures that we haven’t seen yet to be worried about.”
“Haaa… I wish they’d spare us from insects.”
With a face that looked like she ate a bug, Ai recalled the insects they met on the way.
“Same here. Would two hours for a shift be fine?”
“Yep. That’s fine.”
“Then, should we try finding a good place to sleep? There were occasionally some by the riverside so wouldn’t going for the high ground on top of a boulder be fine?”
“Boulder, huh? We should proceed with caution…”
After a few unsuccessful attempts, they finally managed to find a slightly tilted, huge and flat stone elevated about 50 cm from the ground. It was large enough to accommodate three adults lying side by side with their bodies fully stretched out.
“Oh, this stone looks like a good one.”
“Really. It’s a lot flatter than the ones before. If we can endure the hard surface, then I think it’s a good place to sleep on.”
“N, then, this guy will be our bed for today! All that’s left is a little modding and it’s good to go.”
Tatsurou pulled up his sleeves and started searching the surroundings for some stones.
“What’s that for?”
“I’m sticking this to our bed to increase the bed size. I was thinking it would be nice to have some kind of wall.”
“Hmm hmm. Then, wouldn’t it be better to start it earlier… Should I gather some stones too, then?”
“I’m not making anything too detailed so the bigger ones should be fine.”
“Got it.”
With Ai efficiently gathering stones and Tatsurou sticking them together as though he was just gluing them, the two finished the project quickly. The makeshift wall was at a height where once they lay down, they wouldn’t be spotted by anyone from the outside.
“Is this height alright?”
“Yeah, I think so.”
“Then, that’s that but… That’s really huge!”
It was already night yet it’s still so bright. Finished with their wall, the two looked up in search of the source of this nighttime light. What they were greeted by was the moon, six times larger when compared to the one on Earth, floating in the night sky.
“Really… Even the craters are visible from here. The scene is beautiful but… It feels a little frightening. Like it could come crashing down any minute.”
“Ah, but this isn’t something you can see on Earth so it’s still kinda tugging at my heart.”
“Yeah… If I think of it as just appreciating the beauty of another world, then it might not sound too bad.”
From then, the two linked hands while entranced by the otherworldly scene and continued staring up amidst the moonlit night.
After a brief moment, they removed their eyes from the moon to organize the night watch.
“Who sleeps first?”
“It’s fine if you go first. Today was a hard one for you so you should sleep first.”
“Haaaaalright. If I do the first watch, I’m not sure if I could stay up for the whole shift… But don’t force yourself too much and wake me up when the time comes, okay?”
“I know…”
“Haaaa… N… Then… good, night… Tatsuro…”
“Good night.”
Tired from the day’s activities, Ai fell asleep within a minute using her bag as a pillow. She slept soundly with even breathing, which Tatsurou felt was cute.
Once he was sure Ai was asleep, Tatsurou stretched out his hand towards her head and used Life Magic. What he applied was a magic to deepen her sleep, allowing her to have a better rest throughout.
Even though it was only a lowly Lv 1 skill, it was better than not using it all, as it had already started to show its effect.
After the usage of Life Magic, Ai’s expression became one that anyone, even if that person was heartless, would feel moved by the sight.
Satisfied by the result, he once again activated Life Magic to help reduce his drowsiness and keep himself awake.
The next thing he did was to look for the skill that caught his eye in the skills shop, [Mana Regeneration].
Not knowing whether it was a skill which he could acquire on his own, he asked Help on how to learn it and received an answer which states that his heart must be in a calm state and that he must fall into a state of meditation.
A state where he was devoid of any thoughts.
Maintaining such a state would manifest its effects, according to Help.
And so, Tatsurou sat cross-legged, facing forward, and started to empty his mind. His consciousness gradually expanded to encompass his surroundings enabling him to feel all the movements around him.
The sound of water flowing (probably), insects calling (maybe), and birds chirping; he was able to hear everything around him clearly. Staying in that state unimpeded for more than one hour, the announcer’s voice finally reverberated in his head.
[Skill [Focus] has levelled up to Lv 2.]
[Skill [Mana Regeneration] acquired.]
(Oh, I got two this time. Lucky!)
Not wanting to interrupt Ai’s sleep, he celebrated without letting out a sound. Meditating for such a long time, he was able to recover a large part of his mana pool. Once again, he entered his meditation state to make full use of the time left on his shift.
Passing the time like that, his night watch ended.
TL Notes:
[1] I’m not gonna count if this is correct. You guys do it :p
It’s alright I’m here (ED)
Lv 1 → Lv 2 = 06 points
Lv 2 → Lv 3 = 09 points
Lv 3 → Lv 4 = 12 points
Lv 4 → Lv 5 = 15 points