What the hell am I doing while being a fugitive⌠It was dusk when I woke up. The only reason the soldiers didnât find me during this time was pure luck. I shouldnât be trying to test these kinds of things in my current situation.
However, there was something that I understood.
The difference between being able to use ăWind Magică and ăFire Magică was the presence of ăWorld Ruleră. I couldnât use ăWind Magică because I didnât have ăWorld Ruleră at the time I saw it, but I can use ăFire Magică because I saw it after I got the skill.
However, the fatigue I felt when using ăOrb Detachmentă was completely different from the fatigue felt when activating ăFire Magică. The former made me feel tired, while the latter drained all my strength. I am not too sure why.
Maybe this had to do with the thing called mana. There were also skills called ăMana Enhancementă.
ăWhat should I do from now on?ă
I was thinking of slipping into the town and getting a change of clothes first. I was now a âfugitive slaveâ in terms of status, so no matter who catches me â not just limited to soldiers â I would be in trouble. However, if I do not explicitly reveal that I am a âslaveâ, they will not be able to confirm my identity. And even if they did, I can just insist on being a âfreed slave.â
As such, the biggest problem was clothes. People can recognize at a glance that I am a slave from my shabby clothes. I also have the tattoo on my left arm, but it wouldnât be a problem if I just hide it with long sleeves. So I can leave the tattoo for later.
ăHmm. I have a bad feeling.ă
There are probably soldiers stationed in the town neighbouring the mine and would be the first place to be alerted. In fact, Iâd reckon a lot of the fugitive slaves had the same idea as me. So itâs better to think that several fights have already broken out in the city.
ăShould I skip this town and go to the next one? But then thereâs the problem of how to spend the night. Ahhh, I shouldnât have tried to test my skill!ă
It was inevitable, however. I had no money, no strength, and the only thing I could rely on for the time being wasăWorld Ruleră. At this point, I should just be calling it World Ruler-sama.
After thinking and pondering for a while, I decided to spend the night here. Since the soldiers didnât find me when I was sleeping like a log during daytime, it seems that they are not paying much attention to the paths from the mine to the town. Then again, they mightâve just not thought that someone would be sleeping so close to the town.
There shouldnât be too many wild dogs being this close to the town⌠This was not just my wishful thinking, but also because World Ruler-sama said, âmost likelyâ.
One night passed. Nothing happened.
ăâŚâŚâŚă
I climbed down from a tree branch and rubbed my sleepy eyes. Nothing happened⌠but dogs were howling from everywhere.
Moreover, it was much darker in the forest than I had originally thought. I wanted to hit myself for deciding to enter a little further into the forest because I thought that I could be seen from the town.
The forest was pitch black. And because it was dark, I couldnât even move to a different place. The only âlightâ in that darkness was the information from ăWorld Ruleră that said, âThis howl is just calling for a friendâ or âThat rustling was just a small animalâ. But I donât think I want to do that again.
I remembered the memories from the mine as I sat in the darkness. It was kind of hazy, but I recalled many things; the tunnels I explored with Lark, the various things taught by old man Hinga, etc.
ăLark⌠I wonder if youâre doing okay?ă
Even having acquired a strong skill, she was still a child the same as me. But I have experience from Japan, so thereâs that.
ăI guess I should worry about myself for now.ă
I looked around the perimeter of the town from a distance and moved around until I could see the highway. I saw a coach riding by, so it must be the highway. I wonder if that coach is carrying adventurers? As I was thinking about that, one of the adventurers looked in my direction. Even though I was hiding in the grass, he was looking straight at me. Cold sweat broke out, but the coach just rode away. Did that mean âI wouldnât make a move if you donâtâ?
Was that a skill that detects presence? Or was their eyes just that good?
ăâŚIf that was a skill, I should be able to copy it with ăWorld Ruleră, right?ă
I stared at a tree growing in the distance. Then,
ăI can see it!ă
Is it a skill that enhances eyesight? Amazing! I can see each and every single leaf clearly!
ăOh shit!ă
I had forgotten the recoil of fatigue caused by using ăWorld Ruleră! I braced myself, but there was no recoil. There is no recoil for something that improves the physical ability of the body, it seems.
Thatâs good, but I achieved this much efficiency simply by imitating. That meansâŚ
ăThat adventurer mustâve seen me as plain as dayâŚă
I should be more careful.
I tested various things while walking through the grasslands along the highway. ăSword Techniqueă skills were demonstrated in the battle between the slaves and the soldiers, but it doesnât feel like I can use it. I think itâs because I didnât see it clearly with my own eyes. âObservationâ is a necessary element of ăWorld Ruleră. When the ăFire Magică was used, I had a firm look because our freedom hinged on whether it could destroy the wall.
And, although ăWorld Ruleră produces an inferior copy of the original, it has a tremendous advantage in that it does not consume skill slots. According to old man Hinga, there are some sword masters who are proficient in âsword techniqueâ even if they do not have the ăSword Techniqueă skill, and some people can use âfire magicâ even if they do not have ăFire Magică skill. He said that skills from skill orbs are more like a âshortcutâ to using magic, mastering weapons, etc, but human beings originally have infinite potential.
Therefore, I think that I can unravel that potential through ăWorld Ruleră. If I can change this âdistorted lensâ into a âsharp lensâ, I might be able to learn much more. Although, this is just a hypothesis.
ăEven if I canât copy skills perfectly at this stage⌠isnât ăWorld Ruleră an extremely broken skill?ă
I started feeling some fear over the potential of the 10-star skill, but I refocused my mind.
ăâŚMore importantly than that, I have to think about survival for now.ă