Chapter 75 – Glasses boy gets serious

“Roughly speaking, Gifts can be split in two categories,” Zant’s explanation was easy to understand, “They’re either practical or informational.

“Lisse’s Gift is a practical one. It’s a Gift that has a direct application, which is often times related to combat.

“The other Gifts are the information-oriented ones.”

Practical and informational Gifts… Got it.

I don’t really need to ask at this point. I’m sure Zant and the other instructors have already known about my Gift from the start.

The Gift of Glasses, or specifically, the power to physically summon glasses.

I don’t know all of its details yet, but I know that I can obtain information as I see things through the lens of my glasses, so according to Zant’s classification, this should be an informational Gift, as it doesn’t have a direct application in combat.

At most, I can obtain information through it, then use that information to help me out in combat.

On the other hand, my sister and Lisse have practical Gifts with an easy-to-understand application. They’re Gifts that make them more effective when fighting Demon Beasts.

“With this kind of classification, where would you put magicians?” Lisse asked.

“Magicians have practical Gifts. They may be able to obtain information through magic, but I think of them as practical, as they can still use their spells in combat.

“Think of informational Gifts as Gifts that have no combat application at all.” Zant explained.

I see… My Glasses should still fit into informational though, as I can’t think of any method to use them directly in combat.

Is the point of this categorization to decide on how to train with the Gifts? Is it because informational systems need to practice in a different way than practical ones?

I suppose that might be a part of it at least.

“In cases like yours, Lisse, if there is any moment where you wish to use your Gift, the people near you will naturally find out about it.

“On the other hand, the advantage that informational Gifts have, is that no one will find out about them even if they do use it.

“However, they’re also in great disadvantage if someone does figure out what their Gift is.

“Of course, there is no way to hide Gifts that require proper preparation and tools, such as fortune-telling, but that doesn’t seem to be the case for the boy.

“He understood this much, so that’s why he doesn’t want to talk about his Gift, as he’d lose his advantage and expose his weakness if he did.” Zant told Lisse.

He got it right. If I can help it, I’d like to not tell anyone about my Gift for the rest of my life.

However… “You said too much.” I told him.

He already shared that it’s an informational gift and that it’s not a Gift related to fortune-telling. I’d prefer it if he didn’t leak any more information about my Gift to Lisse.

Zant laughed, “This much is fine. You don’t need to tell her everything, but Lisse already shared her Gift with you, you know?

“Keep in mind that if the information share is completely one-sided, the other party might get a bad impression of you, so talking a bit shouldn’t hurt.”

I don’t care about her impression of me though… Well, no, that’s not right. If she hates me too much, then it might lead to her becoming a hindrance or start harassing me, which would be no good.

A relationship that is neither good nor bad is the ideal one.

“In any case, regardless of what one’s Gift type is, the important part is to get used to it first and foremost.

“Just like breathing, you should be able to use your Gift as a completely natural act.

“If you can’t use it without being conscious of the act, then you’ll create slightly openings each time you try activating it.

“A strong enemy will make use of those openings and obtain victory at those instants, so you have to make sure to reduce your wasted movements to the minimum. That’s how you become strong.”

I understand what he is saying. It’s something I learned from hunting wild animals.

To hunt the strong ones, you need to eliminate the wasted movements. You have to polish your abilities and pursue the enemy without slowing down or making too much noise.

And on that matter, Zant’s skills are beautiful. He himself may be ugly, but the way he moves is truly beautiful, even if he looks like that.

From Zant’s point of view though, I still probably make plenty of wasteful movements and have to think too much before I act, further wasting time.

“You’ve already been doing it for a while, haven’t you, Lisse? For how long have you been able to?” Zant asked her.

… Doing what?

“If it’s just keeping it up, then half a day is fine.” Lisse replied.

“That’s pretty good. What if you do some practice swings in that state?” Zant asked next.

“… Then it won’t last even from morning to noon.” Lisse told him.

“Then you still have a long way to go. You need to improve your usage.” Zant said.

At that moment, I finally decided to ask what they were talking about.

Lisse then explained that they were talking about her Gift. She was practicing using it on a daily basis, trying to keep the Gift active at all times.

… I didn’t notice it at all. She was using her Shadow Hunter gift the whole day?

“Then, you can practice your swings over there,” Zant pointed to a location in the training grounds, “I still need to talk to the boy about something.”

“You mean about his Gift?” Lisse asked.

“Indeed.” Zant nodded.

“Tell me.” Lisse asked me.

I didn’t feel like answering her, so I ignored her request.

After a few seconds of silence, she walked away while grumbling, ‘Just what is it…?’

Then, once she reached the location, she pulled out her sword and started swinging it… Ain’t she actually good at swordsmanship? I’m surprised.

“Don’t hate her too much; having competitors is a good thing, as friction with others can let you grow in ways you wouldn’t be able to alone.

“And also, remember that: Lisse is not your enemy.” Zant told me.

“… I get what you mean, but a lot happened this morning.” I muttered.

After all that, I really don’t want to be near her.

“Typical inexperience, right?” Zant asked me.

That’s exactly what it was; Lisse was only thinking about killing the Demon Beast.

She didn’t think about anything else that would happen before or after the kill; she splattered blood on the highway and didn’t even think about how she’d dismantle the enemy.

It was a series of blunders that fit well into the definition of ‘typical lack of experience’.

Perhaps Zant has a rough idea of what happened, or maybe he just assumed that this was the problem.

“Lisse has only practiced her foundations so far.” Zant told me.

“Foundations?” I asked.

“Endurance, athletic ability, the capability of making quick decisions and basic sword skills. Those are just the foundations. She’ll start learning how to apply those things to real situations now.

“And from my point of view, you too have only foundations for the most part.” Zant replied.

Mmm? Just foundations on me too?

“Of course, the way Lisse was raised is different from yours, so it’s inevitable that you two have different foundations.

“Still, everyone needs to learn the basics. That’s why the two of you had to practice together at the road.” Zant said next.

I understand what he is saying, but… “I think I have already accumulated plenty of knowledge.” I replied.

Not just the foundations, but I also have my experience as a hunter.

I can’t say I have enough experience to call myself a full-fledged hunter, but I don’t think I’m lacking in experience like Lisse is.

“Our way of accumulating knowledge is different from that of the general public. You understand this much, right, boy?

“The things you experienced and what you’ll experience will be piled on top of each other. That’s why you still have only the foundation.

“Don’t be afraid of calling it for what it is. You can grow further like this.

“You already have the foundations, so it’s now time to move forward.” Zant said next.

… I still think hunters and assassins are pretty similar to one another though.

“Well, let’s stop with all this theory thing. What you want isn’t understanding my logic, but firepower.” Zant told me.

I agree. It’s enough to understand where he is coming from, even if I don’t agree with everything.

“So, your glasses are a Gift related to visual power, right?” Zant asked me.

A-amazing…

“You got it.” I told him honestly.

The people who know what happened to me since I arrived at the capital should only know my power as the ability to create glasses. I’m the only one who should know that this isn’t the limit of my abilities.

I haven’t told anyone about the details of this Gift, and I have no intention of doing so.

However, Zant guessed the true nature of this Gift… I could try deceiving him, but that will only reduce how much I can learn here, so I decided to acknowledge his guess, so as to let things move forward.

“There are plenty of ways to obtain information from sight. The Evil Vision, Magic Vision, True Vision, Dragon Vision, Guardian Vision… And the very famous Appraisal Vision.” Zant said.

I’ve heard of the Evil Vision in fairy tales, but I don’t really know about most of the others.

The only other one that I know is the Appraisal Vision, as it’s something that plenty of merchants have… Or rather, I wonder if they became merchants specifically because they have this kind of Gift.

“There are quite a few of those.” I commented.

I thought my Glasses were special, but it seems like there are plenty of ways to obtain information through sight.

I suppose I don’t have enough knowledge.

… And that includes knowledge on my Glasses.

“Aren’t your Glasses similar to one of those categories?” Zant asked me.

Mmmm… I wonder…

“Well, just like I said before, the first thing you need to do is to get used to your Gift.

“Use it on a daily basis; make it something natural.

“You’ll be able to find out the true nature of your Gift if you do that.” Zant told me next.

Alright. Let’s start consciously using it the whole time then.

“From now on, we’ll be teaching you more about Gifts that obtain information through sight.

“In the meantime, you should also be trying to use those different abilities to figure out where your own Gift fits.

“The first thing one needs to know about their informational Gift, is figuring out the limits of what one can and can’t do.

“Pursue the possibilities. Be through with it.

“That’s how you’ll obtain the firepower that you seek.” Zant told me.

… Alright, “Let’s do this.”

I’ve put this kind of experimentation off because I was focusing on other things, but… It’s time.

From now on, I’ll get serious about exploring the true power of my Glasses.