WM – Chapter 3: Takatsuki Makoto leaves the temple

“Makoto-kun, be careful, okay?” 

The only one seeing me off was the old lady that was our elementary class teacher.

“With your magic, you can only defeat one small monster.” 

She tells me with a worried expression.

The result of my 1 year of training is that my class is still Mage Apprentice.

Not only did I not get my goal that was magic swordsman, I didn’t even get to become a decent mage.

“It is okay. If anything happens, I will run away with my thief skills.” (Makoto)

“That’s right, you must not fight.” 

A mage apprentice travelling alone is rare. 

Apparently because they are normally killed by monsters immediately.

They told me fervently that I should join a party somewhere, but I refused.

Conversation with strangers is tiring, and they will definitely make fun of me.

That’s why, I am okay alone.

“I could actually get you a job here in this temple though.” 

I was also told this many times.

“If I do that, my 9 years of lifespan will come in the blink of an eye. I have to get Contributions for the Gods.” (Makoto)

“It is a rough world.” 

“Well then, I will be going.” (Makoto)

She is a nice teacher.

I was a bad student, but she watched over me till the very end without abandoning me. 

A while after leaving, I look back at the temple for a bit. The teacher is still watching.

I waved widely at her and, after that, I didn’t turn back again.

I will be alone from now on.

I will do my best.

◇◇

It was a peaceful journey for a while.

The chirping of birds every now and then that could be heard from the forest was relaxing.

The brook that flows at the side of the mainroad is coming out from the lake of the Spirit Forest that extends at the back of the Water Temple.

The water contains the protection of the Spirits.

Thanks to that, it has the effect of making it hard for monsters to come near the stream.

That’s why it is relatively safe to be close to the stream, and there’s roads and settlements made because of it.

This includes the city closest to the Water Temple, Makkaren.

That is my first destination.

My friend Fuji-yan should be there.

I wonder if he is doing well.

I walk leisurely while feeling nostalgic.

I have Detection and Stealth activated all the time even when walking.

It is in order to not meet monsters and not get noticed by them as much as possible.

I can detect around a radius of 100 meters.

By the way, the Sage, Kawamoto-san, can detect in a radius of 5 kilometers. 50 times more.

Ain’t fair, right?

At the very least, my Detection can find monsters hiding in the forest that runs along the mainroad.

I was enjoying the view in the beginning because this is my first journey, but with the neverending sight of the forest, the mainroad, and the brook, I am already bored of the sight.

“Might as well train.” (Makoto)

Let’s do the water proficiency training that I was doing everyday at the temple.

Clear my mind, and raise my mana.

“[Water Ball], [Water Ball], [Water Ball], [Water Ball], [Water Ball], [Water Ball], [Water Ball].” (Makoto)

I create 7 water balls from the stream.

Volleyball sized.

Normally, with my low mana, I wouldn’t be able to make 7 water balls.

But if it is controlling nearby water, there’s almost no need for mana.

There’s only the need for magic proficiency. 

It is apparently because you can control it by using the mana in the environment. 

The more you train with your magic, the better your proficiency gets.

By the way, it seems the strength of the skills also changes with the proficiency.

By increasing the proficiency, you get better at the generation speed and the control of the magic.

There’s no losses in raising the proficiency as much as possible.

I have trained in this 1 year wholeheartedly without slacking.

The teacher gave me her seal of approval by saying that if it is only in water proficiency, it is more than High Grade.

It is just that the power is at elementary level.

“That’s fatal though… Hm?” (Makoto)

There’s a reaction from my Detection.

It is a bit disconnected from the mainroad, inside the forest.

“A person and monsters…?” (Makoto)

Looks like monsters are attacking a person.

I maintain stealth and silently get closer.

The wagon is surrounded by a group of goblins.

Four goblins are surrounding a merchant-looking man that is fighting back with his sword.

He is outnumbered.

Hm, should I save him?

If it were a game, I would go save him without hesitation.

Goblin battles are almost certain win events.

“If I were a hero, that is…” (Makoto)

Sadly to say, this is a survival isekai.

You won’t respawn once you die. There’s no such feature in this parallel world.

It is not like you come back with half of your money taken away.

Death is final. 

And I am a mage apprentice that can’t even defeat one monster.

“This is rough… The teacher told me to run away.” (Makoto)

But…the person in front of me is being attacked by monsters.

If I abandon him, it will haunt me in my sleep.

But what’s the point if I end up dying.

What should I do…

At that time, a game window suddenly appeared in front of me.

Don’t save him ←

Save him

“Oh?” (Makoto) 

What’s this? 

This is a first.

The effect of RPG Player?

Oi oi, what’s with this skill?

I scratch my cheek.

You are being quite stylish in your production.

Choosing ‘Don’t save him’ here would disqualify me as a man.

“Can’t be helped. Let’s do this.” (Makoto)

I chose ‘Save him’.

I approach the goblins and raise my mana.

I fix my aim so I don’t hit the merchant. 

[Water Magic: Ice Arrow]!

I turn the water balls I was using for training until now into ice arrows, and shoot them towards the goblins.

They all hit.

But…

…As expected, I couldn’t defeat them.

The goblins are bleeding heavily, but it didn’t incapacitate them.

It was far. 

But it should have damaged them somewhat.

“Oi, are you okay?” (Makoto)

I speak to the merchant-looking man that was being attacked.

“P-Please save me!” 

“Got it.” (Makoto)

I normally maintain [Clear Mind] at 50%, but I set it at the highest that is 99%.

With this skill, the tension and fear dim.

I can concentrate solely on defeating the enemy.

The closest goblin begins to approach me.

Only one of the four is one size bigger.

Must be the leader of the goblins.

The remaining three are still surrounding the merchant.

The Goblin Leader is holding a rusted pitch black dagger.

I don’t want to fight him in close combat.

I raise my mana till the goblin leader is at a distance where the weapon might or might not reach.

[Water Magic: Ice Needle]!

“Gya!” 

The ice magic I shot blinds the goblin.

An ice needle the size of a nail was shot into the eyeballs of the enemy.

It is a shabby spell, but it is effective against living beings that rely on their eyes.

I was wary about whether it would begin waving its weapon around wildly, but it let go of its dagger and was covering its eyes. 

Okay!

Without letting this chance escape, I take the dagger the goblin leader let go of.

I stab that dagger into the chest of the goblin, and…

[Water Magic: Cooling]

Elementary water magic that cools and freezes liquids.

Passing that through the dagger, I attack the blood of the opponent.

The body of the goblin twitches, and it collapses with a thud.

The killing move I did my best to think of with the low mana I have.

In the middle of a fight, I am always keeping the 360° view of the RPG Player skill.

The other three goblins were looking over here.

It has been going as planned until now.

But I am currently completely empty of mana.

I seriously lack mana…

2 of the 3 remaining goblins approach me.

I will lead them to the stream just like this.

I cannot fight without water.

I adjust my distance between the goblins while moving back.

There’s still one goblin close to the merchant, but he should be okay if it is just that much.

The 2 goblins charge at me.

[Evade] 

I activate the thief skill.

Without opening too much distance, I lead them to the stream.

Okay okay, if it is here, I can use as much water as I want.

The 2 goblins are getting really close.

[Water Magic: Surface Walk]

I gently…stand on the water surface.

This is the effect of the spell.

But the depth of the water is around the waist of an adult.

The goblins entered the stream and were trying to attack me.

Got them!

[Water Magic: Water Current]

I use water magic to wrap the water around the goblins.

The body and face of the goblins get surrounded by the water. 

They grab their neck and go ‘glup glup’ as they showed signs of pain.

They shouldn’t be able to breathe.

Drown just like that.

After 5 minutes, the goblins die.

“Fuuh, somehow managed.” (Makoto)

I hurriedly returned to the merchant.

◇◇

The merchant was panicking.

A group of goblins that got aggressive because of their hunger suddenly attacked me.

If it were only one goblin, I have the confidence that I could have managed.

But they were slowly surrounding me to not let me escape.

They are waiting for me to lose my stamina.

The horse is scared and won’t be of use.

“Guh!” 

A pain runs in my right leg.

The goblin leader had gotten my attention, and the moment I moved my gaze, the goblin at the back threw a rock.

But the aim and speed were abnormal.

It had the projectile skill?! 

A unique monster?!

I have heard that there’s times when a monster can be rarely born with a skill.

I couldn’t continue standing from the pain on my leg, and ended up on one knee.

“Gya.” “Gya.” “Gya.” “Gya.” 

The goblins surrounding me seemed like they were laughing at me.

This is bad.

Even though they got the leg of their prey, they are not attacking at once.

They are patiently waiting for their prey to weaken.

At the corner of my mind, the fear that I may be dying today was slowly rising.

My throat was drying, and my hands that are holding my sword are damp.

“Gya.” “Gya.” “Gya.” 

Without loosening the encirclement, the annoying shouts were stirring my concentration.

This is bad, what should I do?

The moment I thought this is as far as I can go, ice arrows pierced the goblins.

“Eh?” 

What happened?

“Ooi.” 

A human? An adventurer?!

“P-Please save me!” 

I desperately plead for help.

The one who appeared was a boy.

His attire is light, and he isn’t holding any weapons.

Will he be okay?

Honestly speaking, he looks weak.

I don’t even know if he can even defeat one goblin.

But he came to help me without abandoning me even though I am surrounded by goblins. 

No matter how weak of an adventurer he is, we have to join forces.

I held my sword tightly and, at the moment I tried to somehow stand up with my paining leg…

“Gya!” 

The goblin leader suddenly covered his eyes and began to groan in pain.

“Eh?” 

Did the boy do something? 

But there was no chant, and no signs of him using a magic tool.

With flowing movements, the boy closed the distance to the goblin, and stabbed him with the dagger.

That light stab won’t defeat the monster!

But I was wrong.

The goblin twitched, his body bending heavily, and then collapsed just like that.

W-What was that technique?

The goblins surrounding me must have seen the human that appeared as a threat, they attacked the adventurer.

The boy was moving as if pulling the goblins to the stream.

The most problematic goblin that has the projectile skill ran away after seeing the leader defeated.

I could hear the ‘swoosh swoosh’ sound of rampaging water and the screams of goblins.

Is he okay?

I was worried, but because of the pain in my leg, I couldn’t move. 

After a while, the boy returned.

Not a single wound.

He is an unbelievably skilled fighter.

I shouldn’t judge by appearance.

“Are you okay?” 

“Y-Yes, you saved me.” 

He really did. 

Being released from such extreme tension, I fall to the ground and lose all strength.

◇◇

“Thank you very much! You are my savior!” 

The young merchant I saved was thanking me an incredible lot.

“This may not be much, but as thanks.” 

“Uhm, 100,000G? Isn’t it too much?” (Makoto)

I don’t know much about what’s the regular though.

“I want you to come along with me on the way.” 

“I see, as an escort.” (Makoto)

I say ‘if that’s the case…’ and accept it.

This path is normally rare for monsters to appear in the first place.

There should be no problem.

On the way, the newbie merchant was telling me stories of his pains. 

Now that I think about it, Fuji-yan should be a newbie merchant too.

He must be having it rough.

“It is about time we prepare the camp.” 

The merchant suggests before it gets dark.

There’s spaces to make a camp here and there at the road we are going through.

The feudal lord is apparently managing this in order so that adventurers and merchants can rest.

“I apologize for the simple meal.” 

After saying this, the merchant takes out a stew that is frozen with magic.

In other words, frozen food.

Heating it on the fire, and after it is steaming hot, eat it together with hard bread. Having dinner like this while outdoors is delicious.

“Well then, I will go around and keep an eye on the surroundings.” (Makoto)

I place the sleeping bag I borrowed on the ground, and tell him this.

“Sorry about that. If I didn’t have an injured leg, I would have gone with you.” 

“I am your escort here, so just leave it to me.” (Makoto)

Saying this, I leave the wagon.

It seems like the merchant is going to sleep in the wagon. 

Getting slightly away from the camp space, I confirm whether there are any monsters by using [Detection].

And then, I turned off [Clear Mind] which I always have on.

“Haaah…” (Makoto)

I let out a big sigh.

My hands were completely wet in sweat, and my heart began to beat faster.

To think I would encounter monsters before even reaching the first city.

I look at the Soul Book and see that my Contribution increased.

My lifespan increased slightly?

Around 3 days.

“What a relief… I somehow did it.” (Makoto)

My legs were trembling.

“I planned on having weaker monsters as my first kill.” (Makoto)

Like horned rabbits or giant rats. 

A group of goblins as my first opponents was unexpected.

“But I won.” (Makoto)

A smile appears in my face and I look up at the starry sky with a tightened fist.

“I did it.” (Makoto)

I pump my fist slightly.

The Water Temple staff got disappointed at my weak skills, I got pitied by my classmates, got consoled by a small boy, and even my amiable teacher was worried about me till the end.

Telling me that I won’t be able to survive in this world.

“It will be okay, it will be okay.” (Makoto)

I can do it.

[Clear Mind], [RPG Player], and [Water Magic: Elementary].

With these 3 skills, I will survive this world.

Like hell I will die in 9 years.

“Now that I think about it, the weapon that the goblin carried, what should I do with it?” (Makoto)

The rusted and tattered dagger the goblin had.

It doesn’t seem like it will be worth much.

It would be slightly pathetic to use as a weapon.

“Let’s save it as commemoration for my first victory. I might be able to use it somehow by clearing out the rust.” (Makoto)

I decided to wrap it around a piece of cloth and carry it with me.

Let’s go back and sleep.

My first day after leaving the temple has finished.

I couldn’t sleep for a while from all the excitement.

◇◇

When I came to, I was in a vast space of nothing.

A dream?

That’s weird. I wasn’t planning on sleeping so deeply that I would end up dreaming though.

Where’s this place? 

I feel like I have seen a scene like this in one of my games.

While I was thinking that, my back felt a chill.

I felt the presence of something out of this world.

When I look back, I see it.

“Hello there, Makoto. I have been wanting to meet you.” 

The one standing there was an unbelievable beauty that no one would be able to forget once you see her once.

“W-Who are you?” (Makoto)

My voice was trembling.

That’s just how unearthly that beauty of hers was.

That girl smiles.

“A Goddess.” 

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