Chapter 107.2

107 Part 2

“Rhea and I have it too. Neither of us can use magic, so what does this mean?”

“It seems you don’t necessarily have to be a magic user in order to have this aura on you.”

“Is this what you use in order to cast your spells?”

“Yes. Whenever I’m outside the dungeon I use mine. However, inside the dungeon, the dungeon itself lends me its strength too.”

The dungeon’s walls and floor also had this thin aura around them.

Haruki could understand why Karen would say that the dungeon would lend her its strength.

Haruki nodded as he scratched his chin.

“With this, it would be safe to assume that the concept of MP doesn’t exist.”

“What do you mean?”

“Up until now, I had thought that you could use magic because you had MP, but if everyone has this aura and it’s not something only magic users have, does this mean that everyone can use magic? Like we all have the foundation for it, but no one else has been able to develop it.

Perhaps it is not magic by itself but something you transform into magic when you use it, Karen.”

So rather than calling it MP, or magic points, it would be better to call it “vitality”, or “energy”…

Vitality already existed in the Skill Tree, but it had nothing to do with magic.

So would it be better to call it “energy”?

To be able to see this “energy” was a happy side-effect of enhancing Haruki’s mask.

Haruki couldn’t use magic. However, if this aura was some kind of raw energy that Karen could change into magic, then there would be a chance that it could be used in other ways.

— Like, a magic sword of sorts…

Haruki gasped.

— A magic sword!

— What a strong presence would something like that have!!

“I need to put all of my efforts into being able to use this…”

Haruki’s eyes fired up.

Haruki took out his Magic Sword and put all of his strength into his fist.

However, there was no change in the aura that surrounded his body.

“Hey, Karen. How do you make your staff shine… Umm… How do you charge it with energy?”

“Let’s see… It’s like pouring the power inside me towards the staff. Ah, I said power, but I don’t mean physical strength.”

Not physical strength…

In other words, there was no point in putting effort through the muscles.

“Hmm-”

Haruki closed his eyes and began to focus.

He made a mental image of the aura that surrounded his body, and then he imagined it flowing towards the Magic Sword.

“Oh?”

When he did that, he could feel a slight sensation of something moving a little.

However, that sensation vanished instantly, perhaps because he wasn’t focused enough.

Once again –this time with his eyes wide open– he put a lot of effort into imagining his energy flowing towards the Magic Sword.

Then, something moved inside his body.

It was almost as if he could feel his energy flowing out from his body and into the Magic Sword.

Then, an aura as thin as a leaflet began to surround the Magic Sword as well.

The moment Haruki noticed the change, the aura disappeared.

“Hmm. It’s very difficult.”

“It gets easier as you get used to it. I wasn’t very good at it in the beginning.”

— Did you think you were casting spells back then?

Haruki questioned Karen’s words in his mind, but didn’t say anything.

Of course, there would be both skilled and unskilled swordsmen and magic users. Haruki hadn’t considered that Karen would have been unfamiliar with magic at first.

It was enough to see Karen’s charged staff attack to realize just how useful energy-based attacks were.

If he were able to do something like that… Then Haruki would be able to cut through a giant tree with a short sword!

[Look at that man, slicing through large monsters with a short sword!]

[Who is that?]

[The adventurer, Air!]

[Wow, look at that strong presence!]

[What an impressive presence, being able to slice a monster right in half with a shorts sword!]

“Uhehe…”

A sinister laugh started to overflow from the delusional Haruki’s mouth.

— That’s definitely something people would notice!

— I’ll start training to get better with the Magic Sword as soon as we get back!!

Haruki solidified his determination to learn how to use energy-based attacks.

To have brought about such an amazing discovery…

Haruki didn’t feel bad at all about having spent so many points on enhancing his mask.

Haruki turned his palm towards his face and touched his mask with his fingertips.

“Well! I’ll say your body has been disgraced, Lady Rhea!”

The long conversation between Haruki and Karen seemed to have bored her.

Jumping out of Karen’s pocket, Chep climbed up the stage and started to groom Rhea’s leaves.

Since Haruki fought really close to the Giant Dark Tree in his previous battle, both Rhea’s body and her planter’s soil were littered with small pieces of crushed wood.

Chep began to respectfully remove them with her hands.

“Hmm?”

At that moment, Haruki noticed a slight change through his mask.

Small bubbles began to appear and float around Rhea and Chep.

Raw power started to overflow from the ground.

Then, the bubbles gathered in the center of the stage.

“Let’s get you back to the backpack, Rhea… Ah! Esta!”

Haruki called out to Esta, who he hadn’t seen for a while, while putting Rhea back into the backpack.

Haruki’s voice echoed throughout the floor.

Then, a shining deep crimson thing fell from the top of the greyed-out giant tree.

It was Esta.

Was he playing at exploration by himself?

Still, he had gone all the way up there…

Haruki smiled bitterly at the playful Esta’s actions.

Esta curled up as he fell to the ground, picking up speed.

Then, as he approached the ground, he unrolled and spread all of his tiny legs.

He slowed down as he used his entire body as a parachute.

He spun forwards once, and then he landed gracefully.

— Impressive!

Haruki had to repress the urge to yell “Ten out of ten!” after seeing Esta’s performance.

However, they were in the middle of an unusual event.

Haruki regretted not having time to play with Esta at the moment.

“Look, Karaboshi! There’s a pattern on the stage!”

Haruki immediately turned to see what was that about after hearing Karen’s seemingly worried voice.

A dark red pattern emerged on the surface of the upper side of the stage, which had been completely plain until a few moments ago.

A chill went down Haruki’s spine as he saw that pattern.

“A magic circle!? Step back, Karen!!”