It had been a week since the beginning of their journey. Lately, Mark had begun to feel more confidence in his magic skills. He no longer failed when casting the Alarm spell, which he previously had so much trouble with, after succeeding in casting it for the first time. Through repeated uses every night, he could feel that his mastery of the spell was growing even more. It was the same with Warm magic. At this rate, he would be able to increase the duration enough to allow him to sleep through whole nights comfortably without being awoken by the cold.
Apart from Jeter, it seemed like it was the first time the other mercenaries had ever seen a magician before. They showed quite an interest in Mark because of this. Jeter had said that he had seen magicians a few times before, which was why he knew of Alarm magic. The other mercenaries who did not know of alarm magic had been surprised when they were told there wouldn’t be a need for a night watch.
Mark knew that before beginning their journey, they were all suspicious of his claims of being a magician. Seeing as he looked too young and his appearance was plain as well, it was understandable.
But after laying out an Alarm spell and showing them the prominent Light magic, they finally came to believe that he was a magician. From then on, they even asked Mark questions from time to time.
Today as well, one of the mercenary men came over to talk to him after eating dinner.
“When did you learn magic?”
“I began learning about 3 months ago now.”
“Oh? From who?”
“An old man from my village.”
“Was he your mentor?”
“No. I only paid him a bit of money to learn one spell.”
“Who did you learn from afterwards?”
“I studied alone from reading books.”
“Is that so?”
That one mercenary continued asking about things. Mark enjoyed the attention and happily responded to it all. But then the mercenary said that he wished to learn magic as well, and asked if Mark could teach him. That question had put him on the spot.
“How do I know if I have a talent for magic?”
“I’m not sure.”
“How did you go about learning it?”
“I learned the spell incantation and seal and it just simply worked for me when I tried.” (good)
The mercenary wanted to learn a spell’s incantation and magic seals, and Mark decided he would teach them to him. It was because he was assured of the fact that not anyone should be able to use magic. When using magic, an affinity for mana was important, but the incantations were complex. Especially the seals. There was no way the mercenary would be able to copy him.
“I’ll tell you the incantation first. The mana dwelling within me, respond to my calling and destroy my enemy with the force of a hammer, faster than wind. Magic Arrow.”
“What? Say it a little slower.”
Mark repeated it slowly about 5 more times. There was a problem with the mercenary’s pronunciation, but he overlooked it and told him the magic seal.
“You start off with your right hand like this. Slowly draw a circle…”
“Why is it so complicated?”
The mercenary couldn’t follow it at all. It was only after a long while before he was able to make a rough imitation. While drawing the seals, the mercenary tried hard to properly chant the spell incantation, but it was still poorly done. He made around 6 more attempts before giving up and complaining.
“Why isn’t it working! Hey! You try doing it.”
Mark began chanting the spell.
“The mana dwelling within me, respond to my calling and destroy my enemy with the force of a hammer, faster than wind: Magic Arrow.”
Whistling through the air, the Magic Arrow flew towards a tree some distance away which it made an impact against. The mercenary made a somewhat surprised face, but soon recovered and spoke to Mark.
“Hang on, doesn’t it look a little weak?”
“Magic Arrow is a class 1 offensive magic. It’s natural that its weak.”
“You wouldn’t be able to even kill a goblin with that.”
“That’s probably right.”
“Magic isn’t such a big deal after all. Wouldn’t it be better to buy a crossbow instead of learning magic?”
Perhaps the mercenary was taunting him out of his own frustration for not being able to use magic.
“That might be true.”
The mercenary kept on belittling magic and Mark continued to give him neutral replies. He thought it would be too bothersome to argue. After hearing out the mercenary for a bit, Mark went over to Jeter, who was lying down.
“Jeter.”
Jeter answered with his eyes closed.
“What?”
“You’ve seen magicians other than me right?”
“Yes, I’ve seen a few besides yourself.”
“Can you tell me anything about those magicians?”
Opening his eyes, Jeter stared at Mark.
“What do you want to hear?”
Mark asked about the kind of spells the other magicians used, how old they were, and other various things.
“All the magicians I’ve met before were quite old. I don’t know much about their level of skill when it comes to magic though.”
Jeter mentioned that Mark was the youngest magician he had come across so far.
“To tell you the truth, I don’t really even know about the kind of magic that they had used.”
“You knew about Alarm magic though.”
“Because they used it every night, I asked about it out of curiosity.”
This made Mark think that magicians might not really have much reason to use magic most of the time.
“You’ve fought with monsters before, right Jeter?”
“Well, of course.”
Jeter spoke with considerable confidence. Although no matter how confident he looked, he was still a D rank mercenary.
“What are the ones you’ve fought with?”
“Well…just about goblins and wolves?”
Mark made a disappointed face. Wolves weren’t even real monsters.
“I see you think that goblins are a joke.”
“But they really are.”
Jeter put on a serious expression.
“Has there ever been a time you’ve run into goblins?”
“Not yet.”
“I knew it. Goblins have heads too. The ones with heads can all think to a certain extent.”
Mark nodded.
“And goblins move together in numbers. The ones that can think a little will always group up. Goblins will only attack those with smaller numbers than them. They’re aware that they are weak themselves.”
Jeter lowered his voice before continuing.
“On the off chance that we’re attacked by goblins? You’d be the first to die. Those clothes of yours won’t be able to block the poison darts of a goblin.”
Jeter’s explanation caused Mark to go into pondering. Indeed, his current outfit wasn’t suitable for defense. He hadn’t given considerations to this because he had run out of money and he knew the journey would be a relatively short one. He had definitely relaxed too much after parting with Robert.
Mark asked about what he should do if they were to come across monsters.
“I’m not sure. The magicians I was with before, they just shot out fire from their hands.”
With those words, Jeter finished talking and turned around to lie down again. Then he waved his hands to shoo Mark away.
After Mark walked a little ways to his sleeping place, he didn’t stop his pondering. Among the class 1 magic that he knew, none of them shot out flames. Then the conclusion would be that it was a class 2 or above magic.
From his bag, Mark took out his class 1 magic tome. Searching for magic to use in case they were to encounter goblins, he picked out 4 spells. Magic Arrow, Daze, Armor and Sharp.
Mark was already skilled in using Magic Arrow, so he put it aside in his mind. Daze was used to momentarily stupefy the enemy. Sharp would enhance the cutting edges of blades, and Armor would raise the durability of clothing and gear. He decided that one of these 3 must be learnt. Flipping through the pages of his book, he then decided.
Seeing as Mark could already use one attacking spell, he chose to learn a defensive one. Armor. Frankly, there was also the reason that the seals for this spell looked simpler than Daze and Sharp.
Due to this, Mark decided that he would first learn Armor before moving onto Daze and Sharp. He believed that these two spells had good synergy with each other. It would be a good idea to use Daze to first lower an enemy’s guard, and then attack with a dagger enhanced by Sharp.
In order to learn the Armor spell, he read the magic tome late into the night before falling asleep.
The next day, an incident happened right after noon. There was a scream from the merchant who was driving the wagon.
“Arghh!”
He was clutching his arm while his body trembled all over. Upon seeing the merchant’s arm, Jeter cried out.
“Goblins!”
Jeter grabbed the merchant, dragged him underneath the wagon, and then drew his sword as he himself hid behind the wagon. Following his lead, the other mercenaries drew their own swords and crouched behind the wagon as well. Mark quickly followed suit.
“What do we do?”
A mercenary frantically asked.
“We’ll split into two pairs. One of you will be with me to stop them from approaching the wagon. The other two will circle around through the forest to kill the goblins from behind.”
Jeter spoke in a quick yet calm manner. He really must have had alot of experience fighting with goblins, for he did not seem fazed in the least. All his doubt from before, of Jeter’s ability as a D rank mercenary, disappeared from Mark’s heart.
“Usually, goblins will send more than half their group as the vanguard, while the rest will blow poison darts from a distance. The ones who use darts are nothing much if you can get close to them, so two are plenty enough to kill them all. Mark!”
Mark was surprised from being abruptly called in a loud voice.
“Get yourself together! You have to do well in holding them back with your magic. Got it?”
“Yes, yes.”
Mark gave a large nod in understanding.
“Now, you have to run around them when I give the signal.”
Jeter took a breath to brace himself, and peeked over the wagon. Right away, he pulled out a dagger from his belt and hurled it over.
“Kehhk!”
A goblin was hit by the dagger and collapsed. Jeter yelled out.
“Now!”
Mark was extremely nervous. He couldn’t help worrying that he would be hit with a poison dart the moment he left the cover of the wagon, and so he was unable to bring himself to make the first move. He regretted not learning Armor magic sooner.
Just as Mark was hesitating, his partner, the mercenary dashed out first. Only then, did Mark follow behind. As he left the cover of the wagon, Mark saw that all the goblins had their attention taken by Jeter. The mercenary swiftly ran towards the forest and Mark began to draw a seal for magic. In that time, the mercenary had already reached the forest and had begun slashing at the goblins.
The moment his magic was ready, Mark shouted.
“Magic Arrow!”
The bolt of magic shot out, flying with speed towards a dart shooting goblin, striking it right in the head. The goblin let out a single cry of pain as it fell over, but it didn’t seem to be dead. Rushing over to the fallen goblin, the mercenary stepped onto its chest all the while swing his sword at another goblin at the side. The goblin being stepped on could be seen struggling.
Thanks to that mercenary drawing all the attention, Mark calmed down a little. Again, he swiftly drew another magic seal.
“Magic Arrow!”
Over and over, Mark sent out Magic Arrows at the goblins and managed to strike one more. There was a total of three goblins in the forest, but they were quickly taken care of. As the last goblin fell to the mercenary’s sword, Mark glanced over in the direction of the wagon.
Nearby the wagon, about half a dozen goblins were strewn about, lying still. He witnessed Jeter lopping off the head of the last remaining goblin.
The mercenary who had charged into the forest returned to the wagon, but he wasn’t looking well. Upon seeing that, Jeter inquired.
“Were you hit with a poison dart?”
With an ashen face, the mercenary nodded his head. From the belongings he had placed on the wagon, Jeter took something out.
“Chewing on this should make you better.”
In the hand Jeter was holding out, was a leaf. Taking that leaf, the mercenary put it in his mouth and chewed. His face contorted from the taste.
“A goblin’s poison darts aren’t life threatening, but leaving it as is will cause dizziness, and if serious, you might vomit.”
After giving a brief explanation, Jeter went to the side of the merchant, and laid him onto the ground.
“How is the merchant uncle doing?”
“He was hit with a paralyzing dart. It isn’t a life threatening poison either. He should be fine after a short while.”
Leaving the merchant and poisoned mercenary, Jeter suggested gathering all the dead goblins into one spot. It was only then that Mark took a proper look at the goblins. They truly looked foul, and smelled horrible too.
Grabbing one goblin by the leg, Mark moved it away. After gathering them all, Mark counted 10 goblins in total. Jeter and the other mercenary were going to dismantle the goblins, so Mark stood guard over the other two who were poisoned.
Glancing over to their side, Mark saw that they were skinning the goblins for their hide.
“Are goblin hides worth something?”
“We’re taking them off because they are.”
Mark was curious as to what exactly you could make with goblin hide. While thinking of that, he suddenly remembered having seen a pair of shoes made from goblin hide.
Jeter finished taking off a goblin’s hide, then cut its chest open. He rummaged around inside of the cut, as if looking for something.
“Not there.”
“What is?”
“A magic stone.”
Mark recalled hearing about magic stone powders during his conversations with Julie. It was something about sprinkling magic stone powder onto magic circles.
“Is it something worth money?”
“The main source of income for a monster hunter are magic stones. Well, it’s unlikely for it to come out of a goblin anyway.”
Jeter spat onto the ground.
“Putting that aside, you fought pretty well huh? I expected you to be cowering on the ground, pissing your pants.”
In truth, Mark was considerably scared. That was why, although he had to visualize the magic and chant the spell incantation, he couldn’t do it. The spell incantations didn’t come to mind and neither did the image, but he was able to draw the magic seals. To his relief, he was somehow able to cast Magic Arrow without failing, but there was no guarantee it would go that way the next time.
Calming his racing heart, Mark spoke.
“I’m just glad I was of help.”
“Feh. Boring response.”
Washing his face using a bottle of water, Jeter sat by the wagon. A while later, the merchant recovered to his feet, and declared he wanted to buy the goblin hide. Mark and the others happily agreed.
After everything was settled, the group set out on the road once again.