CH 4

Book 1: The Explorers of Flowtier

Chapter 4: The Preperation Before an Expedition

Waking up, a hangover was giving me a headache, but it cleared up by the end of breakfast.

Breakfast included bread, soup, steamed vegetables and an omelette. The omelette was especially amazing.

After that, in order to understand the local geography, I decided to explore the nearby area.

Starting with the Bear’s Keg Inn and its surroundings, I also got some day-to-day items on the way.

I dropped off my bags, and expanded my horizons with a different restaurant, and it was about time.

I went back to the Grandes Church I visited yesterday. Inside, I looked around and found Cyril.

She also saw me and started waving her arms and yelling, “HE—Y!” It’s a little embarrassing so I wish she’d stop.

Cyril: “Hey Henry. You’re right on time.”

Henry: “Hey, yeah, I meant to get here earlier, but got a little lost coming here.”

Cyril: “I mean, yea—h, you only arrived yesterday. How is it? How do you like Flowtier?”

Henry: “Well…”

I answer her questions as they come. But man, this kid is a good listener.

Freeg: “Oh, hello Ms. Cyril.”

Cyril: “Huh? Oh, hey Mr. Freeg. How are you doing?”

An explorer walking by recognized Cyril and said hi. And this Mr. Freeg looks suspiciously my way.

Freeg: “Wait, who’s that? You dumped Jend?”

Cyril: “Dumped? It’s not like that. We’re planning on an expedition with this explorer who just arrived yesterday.”

Henry: “Hey, I’m Henry.”

It’s important to make connections.

Freeg: “Hey, I’m Freeg. I’m a solo adventurer. I occasionally join adventurer parties as a freelancer, so I look forward to working with you if the time comes.”

Henry: “Me too. I’m planning on one expedition with these two, but I haven’t planned beyond that. I look forward to working with you if we get a chance.”

Good, looks like a sensible person.

Freeg: “Well, at a second glance, Henry, you’re a Heroic Warrior, huh? I guess with that much experience, it’ll be okay. Cyril and Jend are still newbies so please show them the ropes.”

Henry: “Of course. They’ll be teaching me about this area too.”

Freeg says goodbye and walks towards the counter where the trading of demonic creatures are done. I guess he went out hunting this morning and just got back. His axe he used was well used, and he seemed like a veteran.

Cyril: “Jend is running so late! He better buy me a juice later.”

Henry: “Ah, give him a break. It’s only been about 5 minutes.”

The god of Grandes could care less about the personality or history of a person he blesses with his weapon. If you pray, you’ll receive at the very least a common-rank weapon. As long as you contribute, you’re access to the Treasure Vault will not be denied.

So it’s no surprise that some ruffians and rough characters join the adventurers.

Mr. Freeg seemed sensible enough, but others would get riled up if you speak to them like, “Whatcha lookin’ at you punk *** *****? You wanna get your throat slit? Don’t be looking down on us you ****ing piece of ****!” And would get overly excited for no reason.

An----d those types of characters are very lax on time commitments too. If you join an interim group, you need to watch out for these characters or you’ll be balding from stress in no time.

And besides, without guys without decent communication skills will die out sooner than later regardless. As long as they don’t try to cause you harm, it’s best to ignore them.

Henry: “O, speak of the devil. Looks like he’s here.”

Jend just arrived at the entrance. He must’ve been running to be breathing so heavily.

Jend: “Mr. Henry! My apologies for the tardiness!”

Henry: “Hey, don’t worry about it.”

Cyril: “Jend—, don’t you got something to say to me?”

Jend: “My bad.”

Cyril: “Very well. Careful not to do it again, okay?”

Cyril approvingly nods at Jend and sticks out her chest proudly. She’s cute but she lacks in the chest department.

Jend: “I was helping out my family business and things took longer than expected.”

Henry: “What’s your family business?”

Jend: “A small merchant business. My brother’s taking over, but I lend a hand when they’re short people.”

Cyril: “You say small, but your the Lord’s personal merchant.”

Henry: “Wait, really?”

He must be loaded.

Jend: “Sure, we’re one of the top merchant families in Flowtier, but we’re nothing compared to the bigger businesses in the Capital.”

Henry: “Pretty sure rural merchant groups shouldn’t compare themselves to those groups at the top.”

But a business man, huh.

Henry: “What about Cyril’s family? What do they do?”

Cyril: “Oh uhhh… my parents both passed away.”

Henry: “Oh, sorry I brought it up.”

Cyril: “Oh it’s okay. It’s been more than 10 years now.”

10 years. That’s around the time of the Demon King’s coronation. Many people died in the chaos that immediately followed.

Henry: “You living in your own?”

Cyril: “Actually, the City’s Lord is permitting me to stay with him.”

Wait, are these two the local VIP celebrities?!

Cyril: “Oh but I can’t tell you the reason why.”

Cyril shushes me quietly with a finger to her lips. Well, it looks like you have your reasons so I won’t dig any further.

Henry: “Well, uh, I guess we should go ahead, and get all the paperwork processed, huh!”

Cyril: “Well what about you, Henry! Could you tell us a little about yourself?

Henry: “Been an explorer for 10 years. I’m in the same boat as Cyril.”

As Cyril said, it’s been 10 years. I’ve already gotten over it since it was… somewhat long ago.

Cyril: “Wow! For 10 years! Wait, how old are you?”

Henry: “I’m 22.”

Cyril: “22?! So you’re not just trying to look young, but you’ve been doing this since you were 12?!”

Well, it was pure luck that I survived.

I awkwardly left the discussion quickly leaving Cyril in a state of disbelief and shock and went to the take care of the paperwork for our expedition.

・・・

Finalizing our expedition request, we came to the adventurer training grounds behind the Grandes Church.

There are simple training equipments like the straw and wooden dummies and simple exercising equipment. Otherwise, it’s just a giant open field.

Henry: “Well, just as we discussed yesterday, I’d like each us to get a better understanding of what can all [email protected]

This is purely fundamental.

Cyril: “Henry! Are you going to brush your hair back, give us an evil smile and say, ‘Now let’s see what your capable of’ like a villainous mentor?”

Henry: “Yeah, there are things you can only experience in true combat, but we’re here to talk and learn what we can about each other before we get to that point.

Jend: “I’m sorry Mr. Henry. Cyril is a huge fan of adventure novels.”

Well, yeah, I guess that’s a common trope where the inexperienced MC teams up with a veteran adventurer.”

Oh wait, before that...

Henry: “Hey Jend, you don’t have to be so formal with me. I know I’m older, but we’re both explorers so…”

Jend: “Oh, um, please, you don’t…”

Henry: “It’s okay. Just relax.”

If they were more wild, then some authority would be helpful to establish the chain of command, but these two don’t require it. If we’re teaming up, I’d like them to be as frank as possible with me.

Jend: “Um, okay Henry.”

Henry: “Much better. Thanks, Jend.”

Good good. It’s going well.

Cyril: “Oh, btw, this is my default speak.”

Henry: “Yeah, I got that.”

She didn’t have an ounce of reservation from the get go.

Henry: “So since I got us here, I’ll start. Oh, and you don’t have to divulge everything. Just whatever you’re comfortable with.”

I’m sure there are secret moves passed down in some sword arts, or moves that are only effective the first time you use it on someone. So divulging info that would make your fighting against someone more disadvantageous would be an idiot’s move.

And as an adventurer, there will be times when you have to fight people, so it’s better to keep your truck up your sleeves until that time comes.

Henry: “I am a basic spearman. I can also use some Kroseid-style support spells.”

Both Jend and Cyril look confused.

Cyril: “Spearman? But you don’t even have a spear with you.”

Henry: “Oh, it’s this.”

I take out the Nyoiten Spear in knife form, and let it grow to its spear length.

Henry: “Epic-rank godly equipment, the Nyoiten Spear. As you can see, I can adjust the blade and length of the spear to certain degrees at will.”

Cyril: “WHOAA—! This is so neat! It can transform?!”

Henry: “I mean, technically you can just carry around your preferred weapon types individually, so it’s not a super useful ability, but it can change to a knife, short spear, and long spear. Oh, and a one-handed sword as well.”

If there are objects around, then using the short spear or sword is better. If it’s an open battlefield, than a long spear is fine. Depending on the circumstances, I can adjust it to the weapon I need.

And it may not be super-effective against demonic creatures, but changing the length of the blade and staff during battle can really mess with your sense of depth and perception. I know this is effective against humans, but I don’t want to answer why I know that so I won’t mention that part.

Cyril: “So being an Epic, it should have two more abilities, correct?”

Henry: “Yeah, one is…”

I throw the spear away from me.

Cyril: “Huh? What?”

Henry: “And I can call it back to me at will.”

The Nyoiten Spear returns to my hands. This is handy when your weapon gets hit out of your hands.

Henry: “And the last ability is a secret.”

Cyril: “Wait, wha—-t?”

Henry: “I’m probably not going to use it any time soon anyways.”

As long as we’re hunting inside a forest as the main hunting grounds, I probably won’t have a chance to use the last ability for a while.

I don’t mind sharing this ability with them, but like I said, you’re free to conceal information as you wish, so I’ll exercise that right right here.

Henry: “I can use the spear like this.”

I stab and swing the spear. My defensive form and offensive form. My staff hits if the enemy gets close, multiple stabs, and swiping at the opponent while retreating.

These are all the basics.

Both Jend and Cyril intensely observe my style and form.

Cyril: “Oh ummmm, what spear-style is that, Henry?”

Henry: “Oh, I’ve changed the style without permission on my own over the years, so I rather not say.”

But it’s not my fault. No one would build a style based on a weapon that can freely change it’s length and subsequent range.

Henry: “Lastly, I’m 3rd-class with the Kroseid Style Magecraft. I know 6 separate spells.”

Jend: “Oh yeah, that’s right. The Kroseid Style only teaches their spells to those who pass the initial exam. I took the test once but failed it.

Henry: “Yeah, it has a pretty steep learning curve. If you want, I can teach you some tips and tricks during our free time.”

There are a lot of styles of magic, and Kroseid is one of the most prestigious styles. You can mix and match different spells to get different outcomes, but you can self-destruct too during spell incantation, so not everyone is taught it.

But it’s very popular due to its wide range of usefulness, and its ability to combine simpler spell inscriptions.

Henry: “I can use <WATER> Eedle, <FIRE> Ignus, <HEAL> Teo, <LAUNCH> Veros, <STRENGTHEN> Hazac, <CONSTRICT> Katerno.”

Cyril: “Could you show us?”

Henry: “Sure.”

Henry: “<FIRE> Ignus, <LAUNCH> Veros.”

Two sides of my square pendant glow as an arrow of fire forms.

I randomly throw it against the ground. There is nothing but dirt there so there is nothing to burn and the carved the ground very slightly.

Cyril: “Wow, honestly, that was pretty lame.”

Henry: “You’re being way too blunt. I can make it stronger with <STRENGTHEN> Hazac, but I would run out of magic showing you every combination. Besides, my spells are more for support than for combat.”

<WATER> Eedle and <FIRE> Ignus are both useful on their own during long journeys and <HEAL> Tio was really difficult to learn, but being able to heal your own wounds is a huge plus.

Henry: “Alright, who’s next?”

Cyril: “I’ll go last so Jend, go ahead.”

Jend: “Huh? Sure, but I only know how to use this sword.”

Jend takes out the large broadsword he was carrying on his back.

Jend: “This is an uncommon-rank sword. The Flaming Sword ‘Blaze Blade.’”

Henry: “Man, that’s a simple and straightforward powerful attribute.”

Cyril: “Yeah, it’s not fair at all—“

If you get any abilities related to fire, ice, or lightning, you drew a big winner.

The demonic creatures’ bodies are composed of magic, but creatures closer to the wildlife of this world are no different than animals until they die. To those creatures, fire is an incredible advantage to have.

And if you get a water attribute, it’s usually a miss. ‘What are you trying to do if you’re cleaning the wounds of enemies as you cut them?’ is a standard tavern joke.

Jend: “My style is the Blade of the Fire God.”

Henry: “And your sword style uses fire?!”

In the world of martial arts, this is one of the styles that uses magic and magic inscriptions. I believe it’s one of the bigger groups.

Jend: “Yeah, thanks to Blaze Blade, the effects of my style were boosted significantly. This was a lucky draw.”

Henry: “That’s almost too good to be true.”

From there, he showed us a few basic forms of the Blade of the Fire God.

It’s a very exhilarating style with broad swings, and I can see that he’s put time and effort into his training.

The last downward swing had flames imbued into the sword, and it would have easily cut a Wild Bear in half and left it in smoldering ashes.

I can’t use large broadswords, but I’ve seen a lot of adventurers and even compared to them, his skill was very high.

Looks like I can depend on Jend to be our main attacker, and I can focus on defending Cyril and harassing the enemies from their blind spots when needed.

Cyril: “Yes! It’s finally my turn!”

Henry: “Alright, alright. So what style of spellcraft do you use? It looks like that staff is a magic enhancing item. Where are your spell inscriptions?”

It’s common to inscribe your spells into your tools, and without it, most mages will be useless as explorers.

Cyril: “Haha! I’m actually not a *mage.”

Then a staff user? I was confused and then she dropped a bigger bomb on me.

Cyril: “I’m a *sorceress!”

……………….……….is she serious?

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Chonky Translation Notes

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*Differences between madoushi (魔導士) and mahoutsukai (魔法使い). Please note that these differences are practically negligible between different works of art as the definitions of the terms themselves are ambiguous and overlap and let’s be real, interchangeable in many ways. In SRALL, everyone has magic inherent in their bodies. Henry utilizes this by using specific magical tools such as spell inscriptions on his pendant to draw out, shape, and direct his magic. I will refer to the use of magical spell inscriptions as *magecraft going forward. Magic users who only use magecraft will be referred to as *mages going forward. Without this tool, Henry would be unable to cast the same spells. You can think of this like someone using magic through magic engineering. In Cyril’s case, the term sorceress means that she does not require pre-made magic inscriptions to channel and shape her magic. She can directly cast her magic without the assistance of magic inscriptions, and instead of using the term “witch”, I substituted the word “sorceress” in case we run into a male magic caster (male witch vs sorcerer). More details to come in the next chapter.
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