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Abandoned Reincarnation

Chapter 22 – Physical Reinforcement Magic

After I was done with my shopping, I parted with Mr. Ronil and went to the guild.

There weren’t many people around, probably because the sun was about to set.

Some people were drinking on the tavern though… I guess they just have a lot of free time?

In any case, I went straight to the receptionist’s desk and talked to Ms. Charlie, “Good afternoon.”

“Good afternoon. It’s quite late today, but are you planning on going out for a request now?” She asked me.

“No. Today I wanted to ask you about something.” I replied, then explained that I wanted to know more about the subjugation request for the monsters in the highway.

After hearing that, Ms. Charlie flipped through a few papers until she found a specific one and showed it to me, “This is the request. The content is to clean up the monsters infesting the highway.

“You’re supposed to form a party with several other people to deal with this matter. What about it?”

“If possible, I would like to accept this request.” I told her.

“Well…” She seemed to hesitate for a bit, but then she continued, “Alright. Could you lend me your guild certificate then?”

“Sure.” I handed it to her.

I thought she was just going to accept the request like usual, but this time, she brought a mysterious sphere-like crystal closer to my guild certificate… What is she doing?

After a small while, she returned my guild certificate to me.

Only, the metal plate, which was previously white, was now copper-colored.

And when I checked its contents, I saw that my rank had changed.

“Uhn… This is…?” I asked.

“This request can’t be accepted if you aren’t at least an E-rank adventurer.

“You have been through with your request completions each time though, so I deemed that it wouldn’t be a problem if you were promoted to E-rank.

“Therefore, you’re now allowed to take on this request.” Ms. Charlie explained.

“Oh… Thank you very much.” I bowed.

It has only been a few days since I became an adventurer, but I already ranked up… Is it supposed to be this easy to rank up?

“The subjugation will be carried out the day after tomorrow. On that day, please come to the guild by noon.” Ms. Charlie told me.

“Understood.” I nodded.

That finished my business at the guild, so I decided to go back to the inn, since it was already late.

Then, I started thinking about the subjugation that would happen in the day after tomorrow.

Ms. Charlie said that only relatively weak monsters had been spotted. Things like goblins and forest wolves mainly.

However, their number was quite large, so when merchant carriages tried to force their way through, the results were quite disastrous, with the attack leading to many being severely injured.

Hence why the travel restrictions were imposed.

Usually speaking though, these monsters tend to lurk in the forest and not show themselves much in the highway, so… Why did they suddenly appear?

Nobody knows that for sure, but as they’re being an obstacle for travelers, they must be eliminated.

Coming to think of it, I’m also going to pick up my clothes at Ms. Marie’s place in the day after tomorrow…

I need to be at the guild by noon, so I guess I should get my clothes in the morning.

Other people are surely coming for this request, and I don’t want to be dressed in these tattered clothes while acting together with others.

“So, do you have any plans?” Aria asked me when we were in the inn room.

“I have an idea, but I’m not sure if it will work.” I replied.

This is the first time I’m taking a subjugation request that is not a regular repeatable request.

It wasn’t particularly hard to fight in the forest, but things might be different in a group battle, so I should prepare for it.

My specialty is to win by attacking first. I notice the enemy before it notices me, and I behead them with one blow.

It’s a fighting style that resembles an assassin, now that I think about it.

However, in a larger group battle, this fighting style might not be ideal.

If something attacks me while I’m dealing with a different monster, especially when considering how weak my body is, I might be fatally wounded with a single blow.

That’s where physical reinforcement magic would come in though. A support spell that enhances ones physical capabilities.

One can use it to increase arm strength to make a sword swing more powerful, or strengthen legs to increase movement speed.

However, while enhancing a specific body part doesn’t consume much magical power, enhancing the whole body consumes quite a bit.

Moreover, the effect is noticeably weaker when enhancing the whole body, as you cannot concentrate in a single section like that.

Essentially, it’s necessary to focus on a single portion of the body to use physical reinforcement magic effectively.

It’s a convenient spell for increasing attack power, but it is tricky to use it for defensive purposes.

The spell can be used like a form of armor if you want to use it to defend yourself, but you need very good reflexes to pinpoint which part of your body will receive the enemy’s attack.

And well, there’s no way you can do that if you’re attacked from a blind spot.

Aria did teach me how to keep magic constantly activated though, so that might help. If I can keep a defensive spell constantly activated, I might be able to avoid a fatal injury even if I receive a sudden attack.

However, it would still take a considerable toll on my magical power, and defensive magic is not omnipotent. I’m not wearing any sort of armor, so even if I can avoid a fatal injury, I’m sure I’ll still be wounded if I get hit.

I’d like to avoid that, if possible.

So, ideally, I’d rather avoid attacks instead of protect myself against it.

After thinking this far, it became clear where I needed to strengthen myself.

In the eyes.

Strengthening my legs wouldn’t help me avoiding attacks if I cannot react to the attack in time.

Essentially, higher speed is meaningless if my eyes can’t keep up with the flow of the battlefield. Hence why the eye enhancement is important.

“I see… But can that even work?” Aria asked after I explained my thought process to her.

“Well, I guess I won’t know until I try it.” I replied.

If my dynamic vision is strengthened, I should be able to discern enemy movements more easily and react to them on time.

However, I do not know if eye enhancement will actually give me the effect that I desire.

Arms and legs are the main portions that one usually enhances with physical strengthening.

Defensive Magic can also be used to protect specific portions of the body, but Aria never heard of someone trying to enhance their eyes.

It makes sense though. If one tried to do that usually, the area in front of their eyes would be filled with a magic circle, which would make it impossible to see anything.

But Aria taught me how to use a concealment spell on a magic circle, making it invisible.

So, all that is left is seeing if eye enhancement magic will really improve my dynamic vision.

“Let me try it for now.” I told her.

I closed my eyes and imagined a body strengthening magic circle overlaid with a concealment magic circle on top of it.

I concentrated my magic on my eyes, and made sure that the magical power was constantly flowing, so as to let the spell remain active all the time.

Then, I slowly opened my eyes… And I immediately noticed a change in my vision.

“Did your eyes get better?” Aria asked me.

The scenery I’m seeing is the same, but it certainly looks clearer than before.

I can see the stains on the wall, the wrinkles on Aria’s clothes… And when I looked out the window as a test, I could properly see people walking inside their own houses through their own windows, even though those houses were fairly far away.

“I think this has just improved my capability to see details and in the distance.” I told Aria.

“Perhaps you didn’t imagine the right way to work with the magic circles?” Aria asked me.

“Maybe. I’ll try fiddling with it.” I replied.

Seeing farther away is convenient, but it’s not the effect I’m looking for.

A surprise attack can already be avoided if detection magic is constantly activated, after all. The important part is being able to react to it in time.

Does this result mean that I can only hone my battle sense on my own? Is magic unable to help me with that?

Well… I feel like I might be able to get there if I keep trying, so let’s keep on tweaking the magic circle for the time being.

And so, I kept on working with it for a while, until eventually…

“Mmm… I think I can use this.” I commented.

I made various changes to the magic circle, and before I realized it, it had already become pitch black outside.

… I missed dinner.

However, I did get results.

The completed spell made me feel like Aria was moving in slow motion. I could clearly capture the movement of her mouth too.

This should work well enough.

I ended up needing to use a double magic circle due to the increase in magical power consumption during the adjustment process, and I also needed to rewrite the magic circles from the scratch.

Nonetheless, I’m glad that I was able to complete this spell in less than a day of work.

Magic is normally strongly dependent on one’s mental image, so you should be able to create an effect with relative ease for as long as you can imagine it clearly.

However, when the effect is a bit too complicated, it becomes really hard to make that work, as it is hard to get a clear mental image for complicated spells.

I can only make this kind of thing because I understand the meaning of the letters and shapes inside the magic circle.

I wonder if there are other people who research the magic circles… Perhaps they might even be able to work with advanced spells.

If there is such a person, I’d love to meet them one day.

Creating original spells may sound like a big deal, but I’m still working with only beginner and intermediate spells in the end, so it’s not too hard to adjust their output.

Making adjustments to advanced spells is still beyond me right now, though I’d like to play with them one day.

“Is the consumption of magical power alright?” Aria asked me.

“The final product isn’t using as much magical power as I thought it would. I think I might be able to keep this up for a whole day if I’m in perfect condition.

“In the middle of a battle though? Maybe… It will last for half a day?” I replied.

I’m planning on using detection magic constantly on top of this spell, as well as offensive spells during combat, so it’s natural that my magical power won’t last as long.

Moreover, physical reinforcement magic requires a high degree of concentration, so it’s not surprising that it will consume a fair bit of magical power if it’s constantly activated.

In any case, this should be enough to let me not be a liability in the fight that will happen on the day after tomorrow.

I’m mainly planning on attacking from the backlines with magic though. This spell is mainly an insurance in case opponents get close to me.

“Well, if things get dangerous, I’ll intervene too, so go wild, Haku.” Aria told me.

“Thank you, I’ll be in your care.

“So, shall we go sleep now?” I suggested.

I missed dinner, but since I ate lunch today, I’m not that hungry.

After blowing off the candles and crawling onto the bed, it didn’t take long for me to fall asleep.