This form of training was meant to accomplish several goals. The first was to exhaust my Spiritual Power by continuously using the Flash Step. The second was to practice using multiple Flash Steps to change direction at random. The third was to train my eyesight and brain.
I had noticed it the first time I used the Flash Step. My vision had blurred. This meant that my eyes and brain couldn’t properly comprehend the visual information I was receiving. In other words, I couldn’t process light particles fast enough. To correct this, I needed to constantly use the Flash Step and let my mind and eyes gradually become accustomed to traveling at high speeds.
My feet struck the bark of a tree, which exploded as I blasted off again, using the Flash Step to begin leaping from one tree to another. I kept this going for several minutes, then hit the ground and Flash Stepped away. My vision was still a little blurry. However, the longer I practiced like this, the sharper my vision became.
I must have been training for at least two hours. By the time I had exhausted my Spiritual Power, I could see the sun high in the sky, peeking in through the canopy overhead.
“My shift in the library will be starting soon,” I muttered to myself, wondering if Kari would be there.
After orienting myself, I headed back toward the clearing where Fay was practicing. As I stepped into the clearing, I frowned noticing that Fay was no longer practicing. I couldn’t see her anywhere at first. However, as I looked around, I realized the reason why.
Fay was taking a bath in the pond.
My mind and body became frozen when I saw Fay standing in the pool of water, completely naked. Her lower body was hidden by the water. Her upper body was not. I had a perfect glimpse of her large and perky breasts. I had already seen them once before, but that was back when they had been covered in black spots because she was suffering from Spiritual Poisoning. Now her skin was an unblemished porcelain.
Fay’s breasts were not as large as Kari’s, but they were still impressive. As she moved her hands over them, her breasts jiggled, causing my mouth to become inexplicably dry. Her inverted nipples were sadly not visible at this angle.
A strong desire welled up inside of me. Urges I believed I could only ever feel for Kari came over me, urging me to take this woman for myself. All that did, though, was make me feel guilty.
“Eryk…”
Fay had noticed me standing there with a stupid look on my face. Her cheeks turned bright red. Despite her very obvious embarrassment, she didn’t shy away from me or try to hide her body. Perhaps she was too stunned to think of covering herself.
I took a deep breath, closed my eyes, and turned around. “I’m sorry. I didn’t realize you were bathing.”
“You don’t… have to apologize,” Fay said, a clear note of embarrassment in her voice. I thought I also detected disappointment, but I wanted to pretend that was my imagination. “You’ve also already seen me naked before. I don’t mind… if you keep looking.”
A wave of shame washed over me as the temptation to do just that hit me like an S-rank Spiritual Technique. I wanted to look. I really did. But I couldn’t. Doing that would have been wrong. Not only because I was already in love with Kari, but also because it wouldn’t be fair to Fay. Even if I did feel something for her, gazing upon her naked body when I couldn’t return her feelings was tantamount to degrading her.
“No,” I sighed. “It wouldn’t be right.”
“I guess not,” Fay said in a soft voice. The fragility in her voice left an ache in my chest, which I also ignored since there was nothing I could do about it.
Knowing that I couldn’t remain there while she bathed, I willed my feet to move, taking me deeper into the forest, where I would be forced to relieve the pressure in my pants. I couldn’t remember a time when I had ever felt so ashamed of myself.
* * *
Fay and I parted ways after training. Our goodbye was quite awkward. I was pretty sure that neither of us knew what to say, but our reasons for feeling so awkward were likely very different. I was ashamed of my own weakness. Fay probably felt ashamed that I had denied her when she offered to let me gaze at her naked body. Well, that was what I figured anyway. It wasn’t like I was an expert on women.
I stepped into the library and gazed around the first floor, where quite a number of people were sitting at tables or wandering around bookshelves. It seemed like this place had become a bit more lively lately. I counted at least twenty people. Before Kari began regularly visiting, this library would have only five or six people at any given time.
“You’ve come right on time,” a voice said seconds before a figure emerged from between the bookshelves. It was Ms. Nadine, the owner of this library. She was carrying a stack of books in her hands as she walked over to me.
“Of course,” I said with a smile. “When am I not on time?”
“You have been late before.”
“That was one time. I was never late after that, was I?”
“I suppose not.” Ms. Nadine acknowledged my words with a nod. However, a sly expression crossed her face quite suddenly, startling me. “Your girlfriend is already here. However, before you can go upstairs and visit her, I’ll need you to do your job.”
I sighed at how Ms. Nadine was teasing me and took the books from her hands. There was a time when this many books would have felt heavy, but now I barely even noticed their weight.
“Don’t worry,” I assured her. “I won’t neglect my duties.”
“Good.”
Ms. Nadine seemed satisfied by my words, but then she paused and studied me a bit more. Her lips moved slightly. I realized that she was actually licking her teeth with her tongue behind her closed mouth, something that she did sometimes when she was in deep thought.
“Is something wrong?” I asked.
“Your chest and shoulders have gotten much broader,” Ms. Nadine said at last. She spoke carefully as if she couldn’t believe it. “You have been training hard.”
“Yes.” I shrugged. Anyone who spent enough time with me would have recognized that I was a lot more muscular now than I had been two months ago.
“Have you been training for the Spiritualist Grand Tournament?” she asked.
I actually hadn’t, if I was being perfectly honest. I hadn’t even realized the Spiritualist Grand Tournament was coming up until the other day when I challenged Grant Leucht. That said, I was glad to hear the tournament was coming up soon. It gave me a frame of reference.
Ever since I had come back in time, I had been unaware of just what month it was. Calendars and other methods of telling the date were expensive and not something a peasant like myself could afford—well, I could afford one now, but the idea to buy one simply hadn’t occurred because I’d been so busy.
In either event, I now knew that it was the 4th month of the year. The Spiritualist Grand Tournament was an annual event that happened at the end of the 4th month and the beginning of the 5th. Since there were nine months in a year, that meant this year was about halfway finished.
“In a manner of speaking,” I said in a roundabout way.
“What does that even mean?” asked Ms. Nadine before she sighed at me like I was her biggest frustration. “You know what? Never mind. I have to head home. I’m sure my husband and children are already at home waiting for me.”
“Right. Just leave closing the library to me,” I said.
Ms. Nadine nodded and walked past me and out the door, which closed shut with a soft click. I walked further into the library and began putting away the books I had taken off her hands. After that, I cleaned off the empty tables, wiped down the shelves, and helped people whenever they came up to me. I’d say it took about an hour to finish all my tasks. However, once I was done, I was able to walk up the stairs to the second floor.
Kari was indeed present on the second floor. She was sitting at a table near the back. There were a few other people present, which had been happening a bit more recently. All of them were men between the ages of f
ourteen and twentyish. I could only assume they were there to admire the lovely flower as she read her book.
I sighed. It always amazed me how people could flock to someone just because they were beautiful. I supposed I should just be glad those people kept their activities to staring, but I was sure their blatant ogling annoyed Kari.
“Hey,” I greeted as I tried to ignore the men sitting at the other tables and walked up to Kari. I could sense their glares on my back.
“Hey, yourself,” Kari said with a smile as she turned to me. A strand of golden hair fell over her face, but she quickly tucked the errant bang behind her ear as I sat down.
“What are you reading today?” I asked.
“A Spiritual Technique Scroll.”
Kari scooted closer to me, until our thighs were touching. I could feel the warmth from her body. The scent of her hair, freshly washed, reminded me of vanilla.
She was wearing a cloak today, but it was the type that looked more like a cape. Her outfit was a soft purple dress that went down to her ankles and slip-on shoes. The thin fabric of her dress caressed my thigh, which was covered in silk pants.
I looked at the scroll while secretly enjoying the warmth emitting from her body, studying the ancient-looking object with a mild frown. It was hard to tell how old it was, but I was guessing over a couple decades. The runes on the scroll were a bit faded. This scroll had obviously been read a lot.
“Thurisaz, Gebo, Kenaz, Hagalaz, Eihwaz, and Jera Merkstave.” I clicked my tongue. “This is a B-rank Spiritual Technique, if I am not mistaken.”
Kari nodded. “It’s called Light Force Decimation. It creates a stream of light that can be emitted from either the palms or a weapon. The stream releases an intense destructive force. Anything struck by it will be destroyed.” She paused long enough to give me a self-deprecating smile. “Well, anything that does not have the defensive power to withstand it. It’s a B-rank technique, so a B-Rank Demon Beast with a strong defense could take this technique with minimal damage. A Spiritualist who has a lot of Spiritual Power could also defeat this technique with their Spiritual Aura.”
I listened to her explain the technique with a soft smile. I already knew how the technique worked since it was something Kari had used many times in the past, but I loved listening to her voice. In truth, she could have talked about anything, and I would have gladly listened.
“Are you paying attention to me?” asked Kari, her cheeks swelling in a pout when she saw my smile.
“Of course I am.” I chuckled a little, which just caused her to pout more. “You might want to be careful. That pout of yours is more destructive than any Spiritual Technique. It makes men succumb to their carnal desires.”
“W-what sort of nonsense are you spouting?!”
Snickering as she squawked at me with an embarrassed blush, I settled down and looked at the technique scroll again. It was definitely a decent B-rank Spiritual Technique. Any middle-grade Spiritualist with a decent amount of Spiritual Power would love to get their hands on something like this, though very few people could ever use it. This technique required someone with the light element. Almost no one had that element. In fact, outside of Kari, I only knew two people who could use it, and one of them was me after Kari had gifted her element to me before dying in my arms.
That reminded me that I still didn’t know if I could even use the light element now…
“Did you know this technique can be transformed into an A-rank Spiritual Technique?” I asked.
“It can?” Kari blinked.
Nodding, I asked, “Do you have some extra parchment and a quill?”
She obviously did since there were several sheets of parchment and a quill dipped in an ink bottle sitting right on the table, but it was polite to ask. Kari nodded and handed me a sheet of parchment before sliding the quill and bottle over. I removed the quill from the ink, tapped it against the sides of the bottle to remove some of the excess ink, and then copied the technique in the scroll down.
“Gebo means gifts, both in the sense of sacrifice and of generosity. It indicates balance. That’s fine. You don’t want to change that. It’s the same with Kenaz. Kenaz represents the vital fire of life, the fire of transformation and regeneration. However, what about Eihwaz? Eihwaz represents the driving force to acquire something, providing motivation and a sense of purpose. You could say it represents willpower. What if you reversed it to make Eihwaz Merkstave?”
Kari bit her lip as she tried to think up an answer, which I realized would be hard for her since runes were not something the people of Nevaria were all that familiar with. There was a reason new Spiritual Techniques were rarely ever invented. The knowledge was, while not lost, incomplete.
That said, Kari was smart, and in my previous life, she had become an expert on runes after being taught by a Dwoerg named Imig. Given some time and direction, I was certain she would become more accomplished in runes than I was.
“You would get… the opposite, I guess.” She tilted her head. “Confusion? Destruction?”
“Yes, that’s it exactly.” I smiled and nodded before writing down the Spiritual Technique directly below the first copy I made, but I reversed Eihwaz to create Eihwaz Merkstave. “If you do this, the power of this Spiritual Technique would easily reach the point where it becomes an A-rank Spiritual Technique.”
“But… wouldn’t that also make it impossible to control?” asked Kari. “If Eihwaz means reliability and motivation, then the reverse of that means you can’t rely on it.”
“That is true.” I allowed with a slow nod. “However, if all you want is a powerful attack that can destroy an enemy arrayed against you, do you need control?”
“That… I guess not,” Kari conceded with a reluctant frown.
I smiled and nudged her shoulder with my own. “In a duel with another person, you do not wish to kill, using the regular version of Light Force Decimation would work fine if their Spiritual Power doesn’t exceed yours. However, if you are fighting against a B or A-Rank Demon Beast, you don’t want a controlled attack. You want something that can just destroy the frightening enemy before you.”
It felt a bit odd paraphrasing Kari’s own words back to her, but I kept the sense of irony to myself. I did wonder, however, what Kari would think if she learned that everything I was teaching her now was something she had taught me in the past. She’d probably get excited. Well, she would, provided she actually believed me.
“You do bring up a good point,” Kari muttered as she bit her lower lip. She glanced at the parchment where I had written the two Spiritual Techniques on top of each other, and then she looked at me. “Can this be modified in other ways?”
“Indeed, it can,” I said with a smile.
The two of us spent the next several hours discussing how Spiritual Techniques could be modified by changing the rune circle used in their construction.
* * *
Kari left as the sun was beginning to set. I spent the rest of that time cleaning up the library so I didn’t have much to do once it was closing time. When the last person left, I was able to close up within half an hour.
The sun had already gone down by the time I began traveling home, and the stars were coming out to play. It was fairly dark. Fortunately, several street lamps that used monster cores with a lightning element were placed at ten-meter intervals to help illuminate the street. I walked through the empty streets of Nevaria, taking several turns as I traveled the familiar roads to my home.
“I hope Lin didn’t leave,” I muttered to myself. Lin had expressed this morning that staying at home by herself was boring, and she had seemed awfully willful, not backing off until I had expressed my concern for her safety. If she left, I was sure it would cause a panic.
That said, I thought the very fact that no panic seemed to have happened was a good sign.
I turned a corner. I was just about to continue down this new road when the hairs on the back of my neck prickled. A brief flash of harmful intent was
hed over me.
I reacted quickly.
Leaping back several steps, I was just in time to avoid a burly figure dressed in a black cloak who charged through the spot where I’d been standing. The cloak covered everything. Outside of the fact that this person was quite muscular and obviously a man, I couldn’t figure out anything else.
“Who are you?” I demanded. I didn’t receive an answer, not that I had expected one.
The cloaked figure took two steps forward, retracted his hands in a strange, undulating motion, and then thrust both fists forward. A stream of water shot from his fists. The stream was quite fast. If it hit, I was sure it would sweep a normal person off their feet.
I leapt to the side, allowing the stream to flow past me. Just as my feet touched the ground, warning bells went off inside of my head. I ducked as something sailed by overhead. Several strands of my long hair were cut. I watched the strands as they fluttered to the ground before being blown away by a breeze.
Turning while still keeping low to the ground, I found a pair of legs directly in front of my face. I looked up to see another cloaked individual.
“Hup!”
Using the strength of my legs to push off the ground, I leapt up at a speed that was too fast for this person to keep up with. His foot missed as I moved backward. I came back in and swung my fist upward. A satisfying cracking noise echoed around the empty street as my fist slammed into the underside of this person’s chin.
A garbled cry of pain emerged from the cloaked figure’s mouth as my attack sent the guy into the air. Blood and a tooth shot out of the cloaked person’s hood. My opponent flew backward in a parabolic arc, struck the ground hard, bounced several times, and rolled to a stop several meters away.
“ALF!” a cry came from the first cloaked individual who attacked me. “You bastard!!”
“It’s rich calling someone a bastard for fighting back after you attack him,” I muttered, though it seemed my attacker wasn’t paying any attention to what I said.
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