CH 27

I moved with the orc’s heart to the stream where the goblin’s heart was eaten.

On the rocks in the middle of the cliff along the stream, where there was little danger of being attacked by monsters or beasts.

Using void magic, I prepared gloves, an apron, a cutting board, and a knife, and cut open the orc’s heart.

When I split it in half, I could not find any parasitic worms.

Very carefully, I sliced the orc’s heart into thin slices.

When I had finished slicing the other half of the heart, I put the knife down.

“Now… Thank you for the food.” (Nyango)

I put about three slices of the sliced orc heart into my mouth.

As I bit into it, the taste of blood spread through my mouth.

“Yeah, I forgot I wanted ginger or garlic.” (Nyango)

Orc hearts have a richer, mellower flavor than goblin hearts.

“This is pretty good, isn’t it… guuaaagh…” (Nyango)

I was in a good mood and was munching on another slice when a painful reaction suddenly came.

“Guhgii… This is dangerous…” (Nyango)

When eating the goblin’s heart, it was a feeling like a hot stomach, like when I drank whiskey under the watchful eye of my parents in a previous life, but this time it was nothing like that.

It’s hard to find an appropriate analogy, but maybe this is what it would feel like if you swallowed a lot of dried wakame seaweed.

It was like a slice of an orc heart that fell into my stomach and expanded at a furious rate, the overflowing magical element forcibly expanding my magical veins and blood vessels and invading my entire body.

Come to think of it, when I was in basic training for body enhancement magic, Mr. Zeol told me that if the magic elements went out of control, the blood vessels could rupture and the heart could burst.

Perhaps it is now in a rampaging state.

My body seems to be forcibly pushed apart, centering on my stomach, and my whole body is screaming.

If this continues, the blood vessels in my body might really rupture and my heart might burst.

“Gah…” (Nyango)

Crawling on a rock near the stream, I try to consume as much magic element as possible by activating void attribute magic in as large an area as possible.

Tall towers that reach into space, roofs that seem to cover the sky, shields that are harder than diamonds, arrows that exceed the speed of sound… It does not matter whether they are actually activated or not, anyway, the image of consuming enormous amounts of magic element, I continued to use the void attribute magic.

I don’t know how long I kept using void magic, but it seems that I somehow managed not to die, but my body is in a mess.

The effect of the rampaging of magic elements in both the magic veins and the blood vessels had exhausted my physical body.

My entire body was experiencing terrible muscle pain, and I groaned just by raising my body from a lying position.

It took me about five minutes to get up from that position.

The only magic I could use was [Step] that I had taken for granted in my daily life, and even that seemed to fizzle out if I got distracted.

I was too scared to use body enhancement magic my body.

It was a good thing that I had saved my life, but there was a mountain of problems ahead of me.

I am in the mountains far from the village, and there is even lingering snow around me.

In my current physical condition, if I had to spend the night in the mountains like this, will be frozen in the morning.

Anyway, I needed to get to the village anyway, and if that was not possible, I needed to get to a place where I could be safe and warm.

It took me a long time just to climb down from the rocks along the stream.

Just using the [Step] I would normally be able to use without even thinking about it, I felt crushing fatigue.

I picked up a reasonable tree branch and used it as a walking stick as I made my way down the mountain.

Nowadays, I can run down the mountain as if I were flying, using a combination of [Step] and body enhancement magic, but I have no choice but to choose a clear spot and walk slowly on the ground.

In a state where neither void attribute magic nor body enhancement magic can be used properly, encountering goblins and kobolds will be the end of me.

I pay more attention to my surroundings than usual and walk while listening carefully, but fear wells up from the bottom of my chest.

“No way… I’m really scared, don’t let anything come out…” (Nyango)

Every time the wind ruffles the branches or a bird rustles its wings, my body shivers and aches.

Even though we are in the mountains with lingering snow, I can’t stop the sweat from pouring out of me.

My heart is racing, but my steps are slow and sluggish.

The sun is setting and my impatience is further amplified by the excessive tension, which disturbs my breathing and thinking.

It was truly fortunate that I did not encounter any monsters or beasts until I got down to the village.

Perhaps the dead orc I had left behind had acted as a decoy.

When I entered the village and saw someone walking toward me, the tension snapped and I fell down on the road.

I thought I heard someone run up to me and call my name, but I didn’t have the energy left to answer.

“You ate an orc heart, didn’t you?” (Voice)

“Yes…” (Nyango)

If I were to be questioned as soon as I regained consciousness, there would be no room for excuses or lies.

The one who asked me was Mr. Zeol, and I’m sleeping in a separate bed where he lives.

“I don’t know where you got that kind of knowledge, but you should realize how dangerous it is.” (Zeol)

“Yes… I thought I was going to die.” (Nyango)

Mr. Zeol nodded, then I told him that I had used large-scale void attribute magic in rapid succession immediately after my magic elements began to rampage.

“If you hadn’t done that, you would have died for sure. Listen, an orc’s heart is a thing that even those who are scouted by the knight order can have a magic element rampage that can cause them to lose their lives or even be disabled for life. It’s a miracle you survived.” (Zeol)

“Yes… I’m sorry.” (Nyango)

“ Well, you did it without knowing it, so in some ways it’s inevitable, but don’t do it again. Got it?” (Zeol)

“Yes……” (Nyango)

I was told that I had been asleep for three days and three nights since I collapsed and that I would not be able to accompany him to the Nest Leaving Ceremony.

The physical pain was gone, but when I got up, I was dizzy and very unlikely to be of any use as an escort.

It seems that Miguel himself will hear his pass/fail judgment.

Olivier was going to participate in the Nest Leaving Ceremony this year, so they would probably meet again in Ibouro.

When I returned home, I was severely scolded by my mother and forbidden to go into the mountains.

Well, I have no intention of going into the mountains until I feel better, but I will eventually do so even if I am told not to.

If I don’t pick herbs, Grandma Carisa will be in trouble.

After I had brushed the floor, I began to move my body in stages: walking, jogging, and swinging.

My muscles looked fine. I may have sustained some damage, but I can move with little discomfort, so I may have recovered to my original condition.

However, magic is no good. The balance of both void magic and body enhancement magic has become a mess.

The balance of my magic was also disrupted when I ate the goblin’s heart. This time is nothing compared to that time.

Void attribute magic has become strange in its effective range and strength.

For example, if I try to solidify a 30-centimeter-square wide object, a three-meter-square wide object will be created.

If I try to solidify it with a material like a rubber plate, it will become extremely hard.

When it comes to body enhancement magic, the degree of strengthening is so great that I am afraid to use it.

The stone is supposed to be released lightly, but in reality, it became a major-league fastball, so I am not at the level of making fine adjustments.

It’s as if I was living with the saying “too much of a good thing can be a bad thing.”

It was a terrible mistake to think that if my magic index increased, I could stand shoulder to shoulder with Horacio, who was scouted by the Knights.

“I wonder if this is going to go back to the way it was… or if it’s going to stay the way it is?” (Nyango)

In terms of simple power, it’s far more powerful now, but in terms of overall ease of use, it was far easier before.

If it is not possible to go back to the way it was, I guess I will just have to get used to the way it is now.

“For the time being, I guess I’ll have to stop Thumbing. If I use it in its current state, forget about blinding them, I’ll murder someone.” (Nyango)

A year ago, I was thinking only about how to increase my magic power, but now I am worrying about how to suppress my magic power.

It’s an ironic situation, I think, but I wonder what the magic index is now.

Since I have not been able to accompany him to the Nest Leaving ceremony, I would like to go back to the guild to measure it if I have a chance to go to Ibouro again.

I hope I’ve overtaken Horacio’s magic index from a year ago…