Daily life in another world 「Isekai no Nichijou」

"The way the Trial is done is too coddling. We have gone soft."

"Saladin. You say that… every time anyone does the Trials."

"Yes. And I will keep telling people that. Piyo."

"Come on now. We've talked about this before. Yes, the way tradition dictated it. The old Trials were supposed to make us greater warriors and better survivors. But at the cost of traumatizing everyone."

She tapped the side of his leg with her staff.

"You are just sour that you are one of the only ones that remember how brutal it was." She said leaning forward to look at his downcast face.

"Tch." Saladin turned away. "You still act as if you were a bright-eyed teenager…" He rebukes, but lets the topic go.

As a village made by elves, Daivette is very young in relation to other places. Along with its conflictual origins, much of the old and traditional culture was lost or depreciated. There wasn't anyone alive that would uphold the old values. And the oldest one in the village, Oberon the storyteller, was never the type to be strict with rules.

That Old Granny Piyo had been a rather rambunctious and rebellious young woman in the nascent years of Daivette also did not help.

So the village grew to be much, much different from the start. Though it has been centuries since anyone from Daivette has ever seen an Elf from another settlement, they wouldn't know about it.

"Gasp!" Piyo suddenly exclaimed, a Cheshire grin showing up in her face. "Don't tell me… Are you worried about that kid?!"

Saladin took a step away from her. "What sort of person even pronounces gasp like that?..." He wondered how the oldest of them ended up turning out to be one of the most immature.

"Hm~? Hm?... You didn't deny it!"

"Get your face away from me, woman!"

"Huehueheue! The others will find this to be hilarious!" She cackled like a witch. "Good old Saladin, reclusive and stone-faced, actually caring for someone?! Could he have gone soft too?"

"You!— Wait! Get back here! Hey!"

——— –– –– -- - -

Syuufarin's explorer attire. (Backpack not included)

[Death Forest - two days after departure]

"Oh, there are a lot of red mallows around here…" I murmur to myself, picking the spiky and sticky bulbs and placing them inside a bag. They were growing high up at the side of a tree that had a boulder sticking out the side of it for some reason.

I have been wandering through the forest for two nights now. The objective is to survive— live inside the forest for a week before going back home.

At first I sort of thought I would just camp somewhere and wait for time to pass, but at the last minute Gaviel gave me something to do, at the request of Clauren.

Besides, over time I found myself enjoying exploring the forest, looking for plants that now I can actually recognize and carefully harvesting them.

'The dark and sort of damp jungle doesn't feel as scary anymore'

The same incredibly tall trees, the occasional ruins and burrows, hills and valleys hidden under the underbrush, there is life all around me— most of it dangerous, but nonetheless something that fills the silence. Even if I am alone, I don't feel alone. In a good way.

Finishing gathering a generous amount of the plant and wiping my hands on my skirt, I turn back to return to my campsite.

I managed to build shelters and find safe places to sleep— this time on my own, and without disastrously failing somewhere. It's not that complicated, but certainly not easy if you don't know anything. Something that I was before being taught by Gaviel.

For food… nine out of ten things I find in the forest are either not safe to eat without careful processing, or actively want to eat me back. I have no clue how this sort of ecosystem came to be, but there are way too many carnivorous plants.

I may… have fallen inside them one or two times.

Thankfully, I managed to escape, and nothing I was carrying got too damaged.

Thanks to everything I learned and my unique constitution, I had a much, much easier time feeding myself. I didn't even have to hunt anything despite carrying a wand, bow and arrows.

'Honestly, I feel like I am cheating…'

I can use the bow at a decently skilled level but…

'...Magic is so convenient. Gaviel would probably berate me for over-relying on it, but I believe I have more than enough space to depend on it without repercussions.'

Although my repertory of spells is small, the few spells I can reliably cast, even if they aren't versatile, have a large variety of use cases. The main ones I use are one that cuts things, and another that flings objects.

The only spell I wish I had is something to light a fire with. The elves don't have any magic about fire, understandable, though it left me needing to do the hard way whenever I needed to.

There is a limit of spells a mage can cast everyday, depending on how much magic they have. Normally a mage keeps their magic only for urgent and important situations.

However, I am not your normal mage.

'I can use one or two spells every half an hour without feeling any tiredness. I only know a rough estimate, both my reserves and replenishment rate are very big, enough for me to be carefree with magic however I want.'

The flinging spell, [Ｍａｓｓａ　Ａｕｃｔｏｒ] was made to throw rocks and stuff at a target. It doesn't work very well on living things because of interference, but with a little twist I managed to target myself together with my clothes. The efficiency and control is abhorrent though, so I can only use it to break falls when falling from a high place.

Just like that, I jump down while holding a glowing wand in my hand, right before hitting the ground I abruptly begin floating for one second, my inertia slowing down to just lightly falling like a feather, and then I hit the ground safely with a thud.

I yawn, "...I wonder what I will eat today?" Strangely enough, other than simple critters and bugs I haven't seen any animals since two days ago.

。。。

[Three days after departure]

The forest is quiet— no, not even that. It is silent.

'This feeling… it is familiar.'

I have been walking roughly southward since morning, everything was fine until an hour ago.

'I didn't cross any landmarks or signs of a beast's territory… at least I don't remember doing so.'

The bone deep chilling sensation of fear that constantly assaults my senses is very much real, I don't want to admit, but it is that again isn't it?

The signs all point towards the same conclusion.

Something scary enough to make all the other creatures flee or hide is nearby.

And with my rotten luck… I am being hunted, again.

My stomach twists at the realization, my tail curls stiffly and sways reflexively as I stretch all my senses to keep alert.

I sigh, a vain attempt at relaxing my nerves. "I hoped, really hoped, that I would not need to put those survival tips I learned to use."

What normally would theoretically work in a normal forest doesn't necessarily work here.

It is called Death Forest for a reason, it wants to kill you. Fauna, Flora, Monsters, it is rarer to find something that isn't lethal than not.

The elves have been so accustomed to the harsh nature of the area around them that they have become desensitized and supremely competent at living inside it. I almost had forgotten, because of how easygoing and peaceful Daivette is, but the reality is that the forest is just way too scary.

'First order of business is to get the hell away from ground level.'

There are a lot of things capable of climbing or flying, but a good chunk of the forest's monsters live only on the forest floor.

Using the neglected bow I was given to carry, I launch a hook towards the tree tops with a rope attached..

Seasoned veteran rangers from the village can easily climb trees without even using their hands, I assume with a combination of their physical arts and honed skill, but I am far away from that sort of ability.

Thankfully I didn't need to throw it a second time, and I am once again thankful for the time Gaviel spent to make me practice.

I climb as fast as I can up the unreasonably tall trees. Perching high up somewhere around twelve meters on a low hanging branch after putting away the rope and hook.

Then I wait…

5 minutes pass like an eternity, the void of noise becoming even more apparent in my stillness.

30 minutes go by and I begin to slightly relax, the unsettling air doesn't abate.

I lose my sense of time then, choosing to wait here where I have a good vantage point to see anything coming. What feels like a long time passes.

'Just what is happening in this damn forest?' I think to myself.

Then— not long after. A… something appears.

I freeze.

The sound of something large hitting the ground, not loud or deafening, but perceivably large just from the sound and the soft rumbling of the ground. From the distance, a massive hulking silhouette moved, the many trees obfuscating its shape.

*Thump… Thump… Thump… Thump…*

It seemed to be sniffing the ground— 'tracking?' —it rapidly got closer to where I was hiding.

Not because it moved swiftly, but rather, it is so large and tall that its seemingly slow pace becomes fast as each step covers a large distance.

It is nothing like anything I had ever seen before, even with the encyclopedia books I had read, I could only describe the creature as monstrous. A grotesque thing that looks wrong even by the average monster standards.

Artist rendition made by Syuufarin.

A quadruple horned moose looking head with exposed teeth, without eyelids, a dark mane that covers most of its torso but despite the thick hair I can see its protruding spine. It walks on its hands and feet like a quadruped, its hands have five clawed fingers and it has something fleshy and hard for feet that resemble hooves but don't look like one. The creature has the silhouette of a gorilla but it stalks along the floor as if it were a jaguar instead, making the way it walks look disconcertingly wrong and cumbersome.

Its arms and legs have bulging scales and seem to have a mess of thick veins instead of muscles covering them, with some protruding plaques that resemble stone showing up here and there with a higher concentration along the joints.

Fluttering straight strips of… something that is neither flesh nor cloth hang across its swaying torso, under its belly, there is a smooth spherical saliency that shines with black light. It is covered by veiny leather that pulsates occasionally.

'What the fuck is that?!' I scream inside my head.

The monster is tall enough to reach a third of the way up to where I am hiding, and that thing is lowered close to the ground so I fear if it is able to stand up.

'I should run now.' I scream at myself, but instead I just stand there like an idiot. 'Dammit! Dammit! Move you—!'

The thing stops right under the tree where I am.

I can't help myself.

"Motherfucker" I spontaneously curse in my mother tongue.

It slowly looks up…

Straight at me.

It bellows a deafening cry *ROAAAARRRR▄▄▄▄█████!!!*

——— –– –– -- - -

[Conflagration — passion confluence — The Lilac Witch]

She watched with the same old unchanging smile on her face that never seemed to be able to express anything else.

Her <Child> is going over to greet her little <Sprout>, just the thought made her giddy both in cute and unspeakable manners.

The hulking being's life was never designed to be long, a shame, but there is beauty in its shallow and brief purpose.

A test, intense stimulus, the climax of a chapter, something that filled her entire body from groin to fingertips with unabashed heat.

The offspring of NoWhere— now named Syuufarin— will be named— had been—

Her eyes grow distant and opaque. Somehow she remains standing, but everything else becomes unresponsive.

…

The thought process of the creature with the alias of the Witch is not one that is easily understood by mortals. Secrets, untruths, and the fabric of the world are unfolded before her, but even she cannot comprehend that which is not supposed to be seen. She has information, of the true nature of things, their past, their origins, but to put that information into the forefront of her mind and cognize it with words is akin to attempting to catch water with bare hands.

Difficult, swathes of volume fall and slip through fingers, with only a fraction remaining on the surface of the palms.

She understands, she doesn't, concepts frequently change names and interpretations. What is <fateless>? What is <The Otherside>? What is <Amber Entropy>? Glimpses of such concepts graze the Witch's mind like droplets of the storm outside the room, there are clues, however any true meaning becomes fleeting.

Concepts, truth and untruth, and what is perceived constantly shift and mutate. A <Blooming flower> becomes <Crimson> becomes <Life> becomes <Blood>. Connect and disconnect, the Witch's mind has never been sane for a long, long time.

Anyways, regardless of the secrets of the universe, life and such. The Witch pays the knowledge that she accrues passively no mind. She acts on impulse. On decadent instinct. There is no sense of pragmatism or ethic, there is only the next scrumptious meal, however form it may take.

She may take one role or two to season and marinate the final dish, wear a mask, become a nurturer, or destroy it all, the motives are so offhandedly unorganized that only she knows how her whims work.

For now, she is the audience in the empty theater.

…

The Witch is brought back from her stupor as the <Great Beast> finally confronts the <Foreign Star>.

She laughs boisterously, the sound that no one hears is unhinged and filled with unbound anticipation "Hahahahah! Hah~ hahahah! Alas, the prologue nears its end… What will you do next, Darling?"

——— –– –– -- - -

I weave in and out of any obstacle I come across, "ａｒｅｒｏｇｌａｖｅ！". My head feels like it is overheating from having to focus on both watching where I am running and fixating complex matrices of magic simultaneously.

My breath is ragged, but not exhausted yet. My hands are clammy with sweat and cramped from holding too tight into the wand. My legs burn, I can keep going.

Something snags on my left horn that I hastily tore out, a vine or something. My tail helps my balance, and I used it more than once to swing around the vegetation by grabbing onto something and letting the centrifugal force do the rest.

The wind blade flies haphazardly as I blindly aim behind me, the opponent is too large to miss anyways, I hear a faint noise of squelching wetness under the loud thumping and crashing vegetation.

'Question: How do you fight something that is multiple times bigger and stronger than you?'

Despite my very real and overwhelming panic and fear. I fought and thought with everything I had.

The training was brutal and frustrating, but I have been prepared for this exact sort of scenario. Concurrent casting from Clauren, sparring with Gaviel, I disliked the training with all my heart and even cried a lot of times, but I grew to become used to functioning in the middle of intense conditions.

'Answer: Attrition. Whittling damage. Environmental advantage. Distance. Speed. Exploit all vulnerabilities, else, make one.'

A stray thought reminds of an old series about hunting monsters with oversized weapons.

Not exactly realistic, but the strategies from it have some merit to work.

I duck under one of its swipes and fall inside the hollow space created by the roots of one tree. The space is large and the ground is muddy— *squelch* *Kiii!* —I almost slipped but managed to regain my balance.

I may or may not have stepped on top of a frog or something but I don't have the luxury of time.

The thick roots around me tremble and shake as the beast tries to claw itself in. Splinters and patches of moss fall around me.

After a brief lull in his attacks, a large, lidless eye peeks through the gaps to look at me.

My body reacts before I think. I scramble to pick up the first thing near me— a large splinter of wood that fell down from the monster's ramming. —and launch it violently towards the eye.

"GRKHAAAA!!!" It screams.

The impromptu projectile sinks in the massive eyeball for a moment before it explodes, the fluids and blood sloshing and splashing around as the monster recoils in pain and rolls around.

I take a moment to catch my breath, slouching down and supporting myself with my hands on my knees.

'Okay… Okay… What do I have that I can use?...'

Bow and arrows, they're of excellent quality but even then probably won't be of much use, at most they will do minor stab wounds in the huge monster's body, and I don't have the option to wait out for it to bleed even if I use all the arrows.

Lamp oil, rope… bombs? would be nice but I don't have those. A climbing hook. I lost my backpack somewhere, thankfully it only had what I gathered around the forest, food, and camping equipment. Most of my tools and important stuff I keep on myself. All of those are just tools and handy things, hardly something to use in a fight.

Magic is most likely my best bet, but what should I do?

'The only pure offensive magic I can reliably cast is a wind blade-like spell'

Despite studying a lot, my repertoire of spells isn't very big. I know of many spells, but I only have practice with twelve. Thirteen, if you count the modified water bolt that makes it rain.

The whimpering outside begins to settle down.

I shake my head to clear my mind— I'm smeared with mud, dirt, and many other unidentified… stuff.

'I'll just throw everything I can think of at it… and see what sticks.'

I leave its shallow protection with a wand and a knife on each hand. I wanted to hunker down and hide somewhere, but even the unreasonably sturdy trees were being torn down by the monster, so I gave up on running.

The monster is getting back up, one of its eyes sunken in and smeared with filth is still dripping fluids into the ground. Since the thing doesn't have eyelids I can clearly see the damage.

"Eugh…" my face twists in disgust.

'I don't know what you are or where you came from but…'

"Ａｒｅｒｏｇｌａｖｅ！" A faint half-moon shape coated with a shimmer of magic appears as I swing my hand in an arc. The spell hits straight into its face, leaving a long, but shallow cut that spits out dark blood like a fountain.

Seconds after, the wound seems to boil and fester for a moment before closing. I squint my eyes at the unusual phenomenon, the wound is healed, but the area around it seems to have become more fragile in return.

I ready my wand again. Magic already spinning to life.

'...I will no longer be prey.'

——— –– –– -- - -

"...Granny, Why does Syuu get to do the trials but I don't?" Sedia asked.

The person in question slowly set down the cup of tea she had been holding. "Hmm…"

"There are some reasons."

"Her guardians approved."

"She studied combat and such skills more than enough, and is learned on the ways of the world. Oddly mature for her short age."

"And in a way, she had already completed all requirements before even starting, so her outing is mostly a formality." Granny waved her hand in a so-so gesture.

"How so?" Sedia asked curiously.

"Hmm, you know how the trial goes, body, mind, spirit. Combat, wisdom, nature…"

Sedia nodded.

"Combat… She spared a lot with Gaviel and to a lesser extent Clauren and the other mages around. Even me, one time. She has a lazy way of fighting, but when cornered that girl can be… fearsome." Granny coughed. "Anyways, in the Trials one would normally need to overcome an opponent. Syuufarin is still green when it comes to combat and magic… but in a battle of attrition she always comes out on top. She is as tenacious as she is slippery when she wants to be."

"She can even beat uncle Gaviel?" Sedia questioned with wide eyes.

"...If he removes his prohibition of magic during their spar. Probably."

"Whoa…"

"Indeed… as for wisdom. Well, you know how much she likes to read."

"Yeah! I don't know how she doesn't get tired sitting all day!"

"It would be good if you showed a little more interest in books you know?..."

"Don't wanna!"

Granny sighed.

——— –– –– -- - -

"Ａｒｅｒｏｇｌａｖｅ！" *huff* *cough* *huff* "Ａｒｅｒｏｇｌａｖｅ！"

Sliding in between its legs, barely dodging its swinging arms, I attempt to damage the back of its legs in hopes of making the monster fall down.

The beast staggers momentarily, but quickly begins turning around. It felt as if my spells hit a mass of rubbery leather instead of skin and muscle.

I run away in a clockwise rotation, taking advantage of the monster's slow turning speed to catch a moment to breathe.

"Ｍａｓｓａ　Ａｕｃｔｏｒ！" A large tree branch that fell down is launched with force towards it, oriented so that the sharp end strikes towards it.

"Ｖｏｃａ　Ｒａｖｅｌ！" Nearby vines and roots expand and elongate around the monster then wrap around the monster's torso and limbs. A magic that calls forth entanglement. It wouldn't do much as they were easily ripped apart the last three times I tried, but it would buy me some time.

"Ｆｌａｍｌｕｍ！" The magic that conjures a bright light. A very straightforward and simple to use spell— and much, much faster to cast. I use the chance of its momentary immobility to send the illumination spell straight into the retina of its remaining oversized eyeball. Blinding the monster temporarily now that it can't protect its remaining eye.

Right now the monster is covered in cuts and bruises. Still stubbornly standing.

And so am I. Covered in dirt, grime, and pain.

The monster stumbles and rips the wood impaling it out, more dark blood gushes out and covers the already-stained forest floor.

"Tch!— Ａｒｅｒｏｇｌａｖｅ！" The wind blade nicks its fingers. After dozens of spells, some of its fingers have been cut deep enough to see bone, despite looking like they should have fallen off long ago, the beast still moves them, albeit sluggishly.

I keep launching magic attacks at the monster and fleeing.

The monster continues chasing me down relentlessly and attacking with reckless rage.

A heavy swing that tears chunks of the ground away is dodged.

Maws that split wood apart are leapt away from.

I tried climbing up the trees again, but the monster either scaled faster than I could climb, or tried to bring the whole tree down.

Hitting its head with magic and objects, it shrugged off concussions and just made it angrier.

Luring it into natural pitfalls and using the environment to my advantage slowed it down, but it always clawed itself back up from whatever I threw at it.

When it got dangerously close I slashed away with wild abandon with my dagger, rending and tearing away tiny chunks of flesh.

Eventually, after what felt like hours, the monster skin is more scar tissue and boils of wrongly healed injuries. And many, many things are impaled throughout its body.

I'm not in a much better condition. Though I somehow managed to not take a direct hit, I got grazed and suffered from shrapnel multiple times. The protective thickness of my clothing brunted most of the damage, though I will have one hell of a time removing all the splinters that got through.

Both of us were visibly exhausted. The whole forest around us has been trashed and no matter where I looked there was something with blood smeared on it. Most of it came from the monster.

*huff* *huff* *huff* I breathed in and out, my whole body ached both from exertion and pain.

The monster let out guttural and wet breaths, thick saliva poured out from its maw as it limped towards me.

'Does this thing have no sense of self-preservation?... Normal animals would have left long ago after being harassed for so much time.' I take two unsteady steps to balance my stance, almost falling backwards as I lifted my wand. 'No— that's why it is a monster. I don't think this ugly bastard is natural, the way it moves… behaves… is just wrong.'

"Ａｒｅｒｏｇｌａｖｅ！" This time I finally got the other eye destroyed.

The monster… finally falls.

…I lift my wand again.

And cast another spell at it.

'Just… to make sure…' By now even my head is aching from exhaustion. Not only from the battle, but from having to do so much magic.

Again.

And again.

I squeezed every last bit of brainpower to butcher the monster so that even if on the off chance it came back from the dead it wouldn't be able to go after me.

The strange black protrusion from its belly began leaking a pitch black fluid with a green tint into the ground.

Only after the monster began to resemble more a mass of flesh loosely tied together than an animal my knees started to buckle. And then the foul stench hit me.

"Heuk!—" I cover my mouth with my sleeve.

A wave of nausea and bone-deep tiredness washes over me.

"I hate this forest." I say out loud before trudging away to crash out safely.

——— –– –– -- - -

Unbeknownst to Syuufarin after she left. The monster's carcass spontaneously combusted and then vanished, leaving only twisted bones and warped ligaments behind.

*sigh* "I thought she would cry more… how fast they grow up…"

Twirling a convulsing and cracked stone on their hand, the voice's owner loudly complained in a wistful tone.

"Facing a giant monster like that so valiantly~ I almost fell in love all over again!... Too bad I won't be seeing her for a while…" She lamented. "Tch, those meddlesome drones have been getting everywhere lately, what? That old coot's ward is the one coming here?..." She spoke as if someone was there. "Took them long enough!"

"Oh well! She passed this little test, so I don't think I'll need to worry too much about it. Hm?... Well, a little hero deserves a reward for overcoming the first mountain right? Fuheheh~" The woman snapped her fingers.

Silence.

Nothing seemed to happen. "Hmm!~" Her lips curled.

"Ohhh! I see!" She yelled in a raspy voice, a vicious grin splitting her face from ear to ear as she stared skyward. "So that's why! HAHAHA! What a conundrum… Not quite a 'protagonist', nor an 'antagonist'. I thought we were alike, but then, not. What is she?"

——— –– –– -- - -

I woke up with a startle, a headache, and the awful feeling of dirt, sweat, grime, and whatever else covering every inch of my body.

"Uuuuuugh…" I groaned. Rolling off my backpack I had been using as a pillow.

I almost got lost twice over backtracking the trail of destruction just to find it tossed somewhere in a ditch, by then I was double-extra tired and barely standing on my feet. So I found a hole somewhere and just crashed.

My body got stiff from sleeping curled on a hard surface. Didn't bother to set up camp properly, it would get stained everywhere with the filth I still had to get rid off.

"There's stuff inside my boots…" I groaned again as I removed them to shake dirt off their insides. "...how do pebbles always seem to get inside footwear?"

Laying half-dazedly on the ground and barefoot, the urge to just go back to sleep was large… "Five more minutes…" I said to myself… but the uncomfortable feeling of stickiness and prickling pain wouldn't let me fall back into sweet dreams.

'I… hate… this forest.'

Eventually I mustered just enough willpower to stand up. Deciding to forgo any more thinking I just opted to use a water spell to hose myself down.

"Now I'm wet and cold…" I sighed. "Better than sticky and stinky though."

I slumped down.

"And there's still four days left of this stupid Trial…" I whined and groaned for a while.

It didn't feel fair, considering what I went through, but I had to bear with it. The one moment I felt everything was going right for once and that maybe the forest wasn't all that scary that happened.

I moped and vented for maybe an hour like that.

Then I got hungry, so I ate some of the packaged rations as I didn't have the energy to cook anything.

After eating and languishing a little more, I finally got to undressing and addressing my wounds.

Or rather, the leftovers of the battle. Even if my body heals crazy fast and is durable, splinters and the like had to be removed. The process was painful and I even had to poke and prod open some places because they got embedded into me.

After that, I scrubbed my clothes and myself hard to get rid of the dried up… gunk that accumulated. Just hosing myself with water got rid of most of the filth, but some things only go away with hard work.

You might be reading a pirated copy. Look for the official release to support the author.

By the time I got dry again and my clothes were smelling less of death and rot. It was already mid-day. The stench was far from gone, but at least my nose wasn't scrunching up all the time anymore.

I ate the rest of the rations for lunch. From now on I'll have to scrounge something up when I get hungry.

Finding a sunny spot I layed down and rested for another while.

"I'll have to ask in the village if anyone knows what that thing is…" I sighed, cursing the forest again in my heart. After debating with myself, I decided to go back to investigate its corpse more closely.

…

"WHAT?!"

The monster's corpse is completely gone, only a visage of the bones from its upper torso remain. They are bulging and twisted as if someone took a clay sculpture and swung it around like nunchucks against a deep-fryer. The only vaguely intact resemblance are its big horns.

On the top of its forehead, a round red gemstone-like thing is embedded into the bone. Protruding veins swirled around it as if it was sucking the bone marrow of the monster, though it seems like it is dried up and inert. Cracks like dried mud spread across the calcium surface around it.

'Ok… That thing is most likely, definitely, evil.'

The gemstone shined in an almost invitational way.

'Monsters, mutated beasts or magic creatures, generally hostile, usually leave something from their corpses that is useful for craftsmen like alchemists or weaponsmiths… beasts that aren't supposed to wield magic are known to develop a core, also named "magic stone"'

I eyed the glittering thing warily. Feeling an indescribable sense of attraction to it, was it kinship? Allure? Curiosity? My logical sensibility said no, but everything else said "yeess" like a conspiratorial friend trying to convince me to do something unwise.

'...it's dead already… so it should be fine if I just…'

With a knife, I come closer and nick the outer edges to make it pop out. After some carving and pulling it finally is dislodged.

Pulling it, I feel some odd resistance. Looking under it, thin tendrils that look like fragile red aluminium foil are connected to the gemstone and to the corpse, looking like some sort of neural system. Tugging it again, the tendrils resist for one last moment before shattering like glass.

Inspecting it closely, it looks like a pearl. Though rather than a smooth surface it is somewhat jagged and rough in its exterior, like the surface of a carved surface before polishing, large concave indentations covered its exterior.

Shaking it a little and rubbing the dirt away, I put it inside my luggage.

'I don't understand why I feel reluctant about it… a shiny treasure is a shiny treasure. In a way, this is my trophy of my first "hunt"'

A really scuffed and desperate hunt that started on a left foot— no, more like tripping myself into it and falling down the metaphorical stairs and somehow landing safely at the end.

'Speaking of trophies…' I admire the visage of the giant skull in front of me, though it looks like someone poured acid on it, it still is an incredible thing to look at. So I also decided on splitting one of the oversized horns to bring back. It doesn't fit anywhere in my backpack so I tie a rope around it and carry it on top of everything else.

I am still coming to terms that I managed to slay… that.

My first ever kill.

There isn't any remorse to be felt since it is clearly an animal, and a monster at that. But still, the fact that I wielded my strength and powers to purposefully injury something with prejudice is… overwhelming. The feeling of heightened senses, adrenaline, mind running at peak speeds to launch spells desperately, cutting flesh away with a blade… It is all still fresh in my head. The slightly nauseous feeling hasn't gone away.

In my previous life, the biggest thing I ever hurt was a wasp. There is nothing comparable to this… first blood.

'If someone were to ask me to kill a live chicken… something that I ate pretty much all the time. I would probably hesitate and try to make someone else do it instead.'

I feel the texture of the monster's intact horns with my hand. It feels more solid than stone with a texture that reminds of raw steel rebar.

Thanks to the training that was relentlessly beaten into me, even though I got caught by surprise I somehow managed to keep a mostly clear head and survive. Now I am more thankful to everyone in the village more than ever.

A phantom voice reminds me: "You have the right to be proud." One of Gaviel's last words before I left the village.

To have all the work and effort I put in improving myself acknowledged, and validated through triumphing against an even bigger predator than the last time I got chased around by things that wanted to eat me, is exhilarating in ways I can't describe.

Now that I can rest assured of my own ability. The world doesn't seem so scary as it had been.

'This forest is still up there in the ranks of scariness though…'

。。。

[The final day]

'I'll be sleeping the entire day after this…'

After seven days exploring the forest I became increasingly tired as the days went by.

Any wonder and bright-eyed impressions I had of adventuring through the depths of the jungle got thoroughly extinguished.

I spent all the time walking and foraging, setting up camp became a repetitive and monotonous task, and much of the time I was busier dodging or walking around dangerous plants and beasts.

There weren't any more risky encounters like the one with the monster I killed. I came across plenty of, thankfully, normal animals. Rodents, deers, birds, though the ratio of prey to predator animals is skewed towards predators— and even some of the herbivorous ones got angry at me.

Those times, much to my relief, the beasts got spooked away after I beat them a little with magic.

I didn't find any of those alligator-looking panthers or the giant spiders though. A part of me wanted to go on a little revenge crusade, too bad.

The path begins to gradually be obscured by fog as I approach the village's location. The fog wall.

There's a trick to bypassing it, when I first crossed for the first time I couldn't make sense of how Gaviel and the other elves knew the right path to take without getting lost inside.

The fog makes anyone that enters it lose their way and get turned around. If you pay really close attention, there is a very slight tilt of your balance perception, it is easy to miss. Similar to when someone is drunk or with a high fever that makes it easy for them to fall over. Not only that, but something similar also happens to the mana perception for those that have it.

Have you ever played with a broomstick, balancing it on the middle of your palm and turning this and that way so it doesn't fall off?

Like that, when I feel like I am slightly leaning left, I turn right. And vice-versa. Taking a twisting and turning path until I cross to the other side. There is no fixed path inside the fog, that is why it is so effective.

I go around the great wall, finding the entrance to the gate, across the tunnel.

"Finally, home."

——— –– –– -- - -

Just like when she left, a commotion happened again when she returned.

"Syuufarin?! Are you okay?!"

The guard by the gate— honestly just a glorified position to slack-off since there is hardly a need to guard the gate —shouted.

She had a haggard and battered appearance, clothes torn and dirty, from a distance it seemed like she got chewed inside and out by some beast.

Her backpack was larger than her own profile and was bulging with all sorts of things, and there is a giant unidentified horn tied on top of everything else.

"AAh!" The girl jumped, "Don't shout like that, you scared me!"

The guard fussed around her.

"A-ah. I'm okay, yes, yes! I mean it." Syuu looked down at herself "Ah…"

She coughed embarrassedly.

"Some things happened, but I'm not hurt! I'm just a little dirty… hahaha…"She scratched the back of her head sheepishly.

"Okay… just, wait here." The guard took off to call Gaviel, and word quickly got around of her return.

Gaviel is the first one to show up.

"Syuufarin?! What happened?!"

"Ah… you see…"

She began telling what happened, then Clauren graced them with his presence.

"Syuufarin?! What is that?!" He said, closing in the things strapped to her backpack.

"...Why is that the first thing you say after seeing her?" Gaviel squinted his eyes towards Clauren.

"This? There was this big monster that…"

Samyra appeared not long after.

"Huh?! Syuufarin?! Where are you hurt?! Why are you all just standing there?!"

The two men and girl stammered for a response.

"Syuufarin?!... What—" Piyo shouted when she arrived. Then saw everyone cowering before Samyra who was berating them loudly. "You know what? Nevermind. She looks fine, Sedia, we can come back later."

"B-but!..." Syuufarin's friend looked back and forth between her Granny and her precious friend. "...Okay…"

——— –– –– -- - -

*cough* "So, that's what happened. Sorry…" I say with my head hung down.

"No, no… don't bow like that. We're just worried about you." says samyra. "You gave me quite a scare showing up like that."

Gaviel and Clauren sighed.

"I'll ask for some people to scout the area around the place where the monster has been… unfortunately with this much time since its death I am not confident that any answers will be found." Gaviel tells me.

Clauren makes a thinking pose with his hand supporting his chin. "Still… such misfortune right off your first outing. I am reluctant to call this a simple turn of bad luck."

I look at him sideways. "...What makes you say that?"

He grimaces and avoids my gaze for a moment, "Just a misconceived conjecture… but that horn you harvested from the monster, and the abilities you mentioned, don't they have a resemblance?" He rubs the side of his neck. "With you?"

I feel my stomach drop in apprehension.

Samyra and Gaviel share a confused look.

Clauren adjusts his glasses upwards. "Don't dwell too much on it." he ruffles my head with a little too much force, forcing my head dowards.

The action throws me off. I swat him off in annoyance after he keeps doing for one second too many.

"What exactly do you mean by that?" Samyra asks.

Gaviel stares at Clauren like he wants to bore a hole through his forehead.

Clauren isn't the type to blurt out things like this without meaning something. So everyone is aggressively curious.

"Right before Syuufarin was discovered, the village was…" attacked wasn't quite the right word. "...assaulted. By an unknown figure."

"Huh?! I didn't know that!" I exclaim.

Clauren blinks. "Didn't anyone tell you?"

"No."

It sort of never came up, in all the time Syuufarin lived in the village.

"Well… then I'm telling you now." Clauren coughed awkwardly. "Nothing was stolen and nobody was seriously injured, that is all well and good, but what is more terrifying is that everyone in the village had gotten their vitality almost completely drained. The women got slightly less affected, but all the men were rendered unable to stand up for at least a day."

He cautiously put his hand on the enormous horn that was strapped along with my other stuff.

"Who was that? How did they find Daivette? Why did they suck people's vitality like that and what were they going to do with it?... It kept everyone on edge for weeks. Rangers were sent out in a vain attempt to find the culprit but nothing was found… except you."

Gaviel, who turned around to sit down, nodded.

"You were kept out of it. But there were some people that voiced clear concerts of your origins then." He continues after Clauren.

"Like… That grumpy and old blacksmith?"

Samyra blinked twice, mouthing the words that just came off my mouth. "Saladin?"

Gaviel coughed once. "...That person is a respected elder of the village. Take care not to refer to him like that… at least not in his presence. But yes, he was one of the most prominent to be against your integration in the village."

"Really? I mean, he isn't a gentle person, but after I spent time with him he is kinda nice. In his own unique way."

"Him?!... Nice??" Clauren muttered to himself.

"Syuufarin's strange friendship in an unexpected place aside… My hypothesis is that: that person's goal was to create the monster you fought. Though… I am unsure how your existence falls into all of this. An experiment? A failed variable?..."

"A victim?" A voice cut in.

Clauren turns to the newcomer "Piyo?"

"Yes I am Piyo." She jokes. Clauren lets out a tiny sigh of someone who has literally heard this exact phrase a thousand times.

The old woman sees my state for a moment, then chants something and raises her staff in my direction.

"Ｈａｕｔｏ　Ｉｎｔｅｒｇｒａ"

In a brief moment, wisps of magic along with an embracing wind cross my whole body. With a quick flash I find myself clean of dirt and grime, though my clothes are still as damaged as before, I don't look like I crawled through a trench anymore.

"PLEASE, teach me this magic spell!" I jump towards Granny and implore her.

She laughs. "Later."

"You all were taking too long so I came looking." She addresses the other adults.

"Syuu!" Sedia, who shows up, suddenly glomps me into a tight hug.

"—Gweh!"

"Hey, hey, what happened! And…" She begins to drown me in questions.

Granny Piyo taps the end of her staff on Clauren's forehead. "I know you're simply worried but don't go talking about unnecessary things. Look around yourself, now everyone has this strange constipated face." She then taps the butt of her staff on Samyra's chins, startling her.

"Worrying about insidious things is how they become more troublesome. Instead, you should be worrying about what you are going to eat for lunch."

Clauren protests "Piyo, as much as I respect you, this is a serious matter!—"

"—Eh!... Yadda yadda, the girl has some troublesome past and popped out of an evil egg. What are you going to do about it?"

'Huh?! How does she know?!' I inwardly scream whilst dealing with Sedia.

Unknown to me Granny was just talking out of her mouth.

"An evil mage capable of living in this forest and ambushing the village isn't something any of us can contend with easily. Stop theorizing without evidence, rather, just prepare the best you can. It's been five, five, years since all that happened. And only now something shows up? We don't know anything and probably won't know even if we search for answers, it's easier to just let fate unfold."

"Still, isn't that sort of thinking very crass?" Clauren rubs his head.

"Idiot brat. I'm telling you to deal with it later!" This time she hits Clauren with more force.

"Gack!"

The Great Grandmother Piyo knows very well the concerning implications Syuufarin's findings have, but this is not the time or place to discuss such things. Clauren's mutterings were only exacerbating the issue and making the children (and by children, even the adults are included in her vision.) scared.

If that person doesn't want to be found, there is no way no matter how hard Clauren tries to find anything. Granny wants to nip the issue in the bud before he becomes obsessed with long foregone shadows. As long lived people, paranoia can easily bring disastrous ruin to those that become trapped in it.

She is also scared, but since there is nothing she can think of that would help. She threw those dark thoughts out the window and will see what happens and then deal with it as they come.

A truly carefree way of being. A trademark of their race.

"Syuufarin just came back successfully from her Trial, she just needs to beat up Gaviel as a formality now. It is time to celebrate!" She shouts merrily and reproachfully.

——— –– –– -- - -

I woke up to a familiar ceiling.

Knowing what was to come, I sigh and bury my head back into the blankets.

'It's supposed to be a big, happy thing. But somehow I find myself not looking forward to all that.'

My determination to get out of bed is running away…

After ending the discussion with Granny, everyone left, I went to take a bath properly— more out of a psychological need than to clean myself —and crashed into my precious, fluffy, bed.

Just before going to sleep Dahlia, the Chief, showed up to ask how it went. Gaviel went with her to explain since I had already told him and was tired.

The actual festivities would take a day and some time to prepare and for word of it to spread around. So it was fine for me to laze around for a whole day.

But now… from what I've heard there will be another festival-level party happening. Along with a show of me attempting to pass the Trial of combat.

Everyone is treating it like it is a foregone conclusion, me against Gaviel.

In all the years he taught me the times I barely managed to win against him can be counted in one hand. Even then, I feel like he was going easy on me on those occasions.

"...I'll start packing my luggage." I say to myself out loud after languishing in bed for a while.

The backpack is for daily life and items necessary for travel. My personal items, important and fragile, go in a large briefcase. Especially durable and built to last.

There is a limit to how much I can stuff inside, sadly there isn't any convenient space-altering magic that makes the inside bigger than the outside.

The first thing I do is line the bottom with books, grimoires, and my personal notes containing all the spells I learned so far, And spells I haven't mastered yet, but am aiming to learn during my journey.

Next are simple trinkets and baubles. A braided hair decoration Samyra and I made together. A little wooden carving from Gaviel. Clauren's gift is an annotated encyclopedia already sitting on the bottom, but he also gave me a case containing a few potions of varied effects.

From Sedia, a simple stamped flower in a bookmark slip. "Since I like books so much," she said.

Granny, who was with Sedia when she gave me the bookmark, told me that she was working on a surprise.

Crocus, the cook that I never see outside the common kitchen, had also showed up with a canister filled to the brim with a colorful mix of spices and dried herbs. "Should last you an'whole year if you ration." He said, "It makes anything delicious!... just use it in moderation, it is very strong."

…

'I ended up receiving many things from the village.'

The topmost layer is filled with things I regularly take out, mostly clothes and useful accessories like gloves and a scarf.

The suitcase lid is swiftly closed as I close my wavering eyes.

"...I made such a big show about leaving on a journey… look at me now, having second thoughts." I huff.

I want to give everyone a gift for taking care of me too… but there isn't anything I can think of that is very impactful.

I racked my head for ideas. As someone who grew used to materialistic things, something to send a heartfelt message feels difficult to make. Which is one of the reasons why I went around lending a helping hand throughout the village back then.

'I don't have the expertise to make one big present for everybody… so it will have to be something small for everyone, but what can I make?... Cooking?... Baking?... no that would take too long.' I turned to look at the closed briefcase, and recalled the many gifts I received, both material and abstract.

'Above all else… I don't want to leave the village without doing one last thing. I would feel wrong after receiving all these parting gifts.' Books, non-perishable food, clothes, decorations, trinkets, cutlery, a bookmark…

My thoughts stop at the bookmark.

'Books… words… letters?' A lightbulb turns on. 'It's not much… but I think it could work. Yes.'

I pick up a stack of blank papers. For a moment I hesitate, I am going to use precious paper and ink for such a frivolous desire. And then I pick up the quill.

Everyone is leaving little things for me to remember them by, so I am just giving them something too. Farewell letters, one for each person I can think of.

Some of them I sheepishly wrote a vague description of who they are as I couldn't quite remember their name, or maybe I interacted with them and never got to introducing each other.

The letters for Clauren, Samyra, Clauren, Sedia, and Granny became the longest, using more than one page for each.

Then the letters for everyone else.

Dahlia, the village Chief.

Alfen, Cain, and Frier. The ranger trio who helped me way back then.

Saladin, the grumpy old man who is secretly nice.

Parnem, the farmer who always treats me with snacks whenever I swung by.

Zenui, who I often went to with Sedia to get fried food whenever he made them.

Crocus. The carpenter uncle who supplied scrap wood for me and Gaviel.

A single letter for the children collective.

The tailors who made my clothing… despite suffering as a dress-up doll to them the first time.

Argos, the Elder you can always find in the big library.

Epoke, the village's druid-sort-of-priest, whom I haven't interacted much with but he was nice.

Wein, the boisterous and often alcohol reeking Elder, I reluctantly wrote a polite sounding letter to him since he gave me a bottle of alcohol of all things… if I ever have the chance I'll likely sell it off somewhere.

Caule, the Elder that is always knee deep in soil, in gratitude for always looking out for people and the one who makes the most food out in the tilled lands.

Oberon… the last Elder who mostly is just sitting somewhere and bathing in the sun like a vegetable. Whenever he isn't photosynthesizing he is telling stories to the children or whoever happens to be next to him. Whether they actually happened or are fairy tales nobody knows. I write to him too.

They are all sappy, happy, sad, curious, timid, and heartfelt letters and cards I plan to leave behind.

No way I am delivering them myself I'd die from embarrassment.

By the time I had finished everything and begun considering making origami too, Clauren showed up.

"Syuufarin! Why are you still in your pajamas? Come on, it's noon already… and everyone is eagerly waiting for you to beat Gaviel up!"

"...That last line is just your inner thoughts leaking."

He decidedly did not comment on that.

"...anyways, the celebration is already starting! Let's go!"

——— –– –– -- - -

In an open grass field, surrounded by a crowd of people and tables of food.

"Why do we need to celebrate?" I ask out loud. "I mean— I get it, but this is a bit much, no?"

There is one holiday that the village celebrates every year, and I heard of other festivals that happen every decade or so. Although the population of Daivette isn't very big compared to large cities, hundreds of people in one place partying and dancing is a lot.

To have the same scale of festivities happening just because I came back after a week-long outing feels disproportional.

"...I grew used to this happening so it has been a long time since I questioned, but yes, truly there isn't a need for all of this." Samyra, who was beside me holding a cup of some beverage with two hands, answered. "But rather, this celebration is happening because people want to. Besides the party-goers that always jump at any opportunity to have some fun, your safe return is a good event to celebrate. Even if we held a small party to congratulate you, everyone in the village would eventually hear about it and the "small" party would evolve into this eventually whether we want it or not."

"Still, I don't really enjoy being put in a spotlight like this."

Samyra offers me a slight encouraging smile. "Well, it can't be helped. Haha… Do your best!"

For a while we simply stood there watching the festivities.

In the middle of the square a dizzying group dance is happening.

On a secluded corner the older and more weathered elves are getting sloshed with wine and alcoholic drinks.

The children are doing some sort of snake and tag game, running around with hands clasped in groups of four or five.

I think I saw Dahlia dragging a ranger and a mage somewhere with a furious face. Something from their antics must have happened.

"Why don't you go join them?" She asks.

"Ah?... Um… Do I have to?"

"If you want to. I thought you'd enjoy yourself more that way."

"I'm fine staying here… thanks."

"..." Samyra went quiet.

After thinking for some time, she says to me "Are you still set on leaving?"

"Isn't it a little late to ask that question?... Yes, I am. Why do you ask?"

Samya opens her mouth, closes, then sighs. "I thought day and night about why you would want to leave so suddenly. Were you uncomfortable? Sad? You seemed happy at times, then restless at the next, even though we lived next to each other I feel like I know so much and yet so little about you… I— We all respect your choices, we do. Just… When you are out there, in your own travels, make sure to be happy, okay?"

She hugs me.

"It's been such a short time. Perhaps five years have been long to you, but to me it feels like not enough time."

"......hm." I nod quietly.

In situations like this knowing the right words is hard. When someone has such feelings for you, it's hard to leave on good terms without hurting their feelings.

I let her hug me for as long as she likes. To make the most of the time we have left together.

——— –– –– -- - -

In a grassy plain.

In front of me, I face Gaviel who is wearing simple padded armor we always used when training. And armed with a strangely shaped spear— no, it's an arrow, I realize. A huge, oversized one that is used to deal with large thick skinned beasts.

Similarly, I am also wearing similar equipment, in conjunction with a dagger I am also holding the same simple wand that I have been using throughout my years.

"D-does it have to be so… public?" I give a pleading look to Dahlia, who is overseeing the duel that will happen now.

"That… it can't be helped."

"...Is it always like this?"

"Normally… yes, but you landed in a special spot where you are the only one undertaking the Trial. Not only that you are against Gaviel, although he isn't the strongest in Daivette, this is the first time he ever became so involved. Naturally, everyone's curiosity piqued." She paused. "You're from outside, but you have spent enough time here to understand that the people here don't have the habit of minding their own business."

"…" I sigh.

The invisible pressure of everyone looking at me makes me nervous. I do my best to ignore them.

'I just need to win against him, and then… it's going to be goodbye for a while…' Unmentioned, I also assumed that maybe I could also lose, but pass anyway if I perform well somehow.

"Ready?" Gaviel asks.

I gulp down. "No."

He blinks twice. "No?..." His eyes turn to Dahlia. Unsure.

"Yeah… The friendly sparring we always do is one thing…" I leave the rest unsaid, pointedly looking around us. "...I can't beat you fairly, and after this is all over I'll be leaving."

"..." Gaviel closes his eyes. "You will win."

"?" I tilt my head.

"Humility is good, but you underestimate yourself." He continues, "'Fairly'... I restrained you from using magic during training. Do you understand why?"

I think for a few seconds "...Because it is important to not rely solely on magic?"

"That is correct, however, it is because it would be unfair… to me."

A beat.

"What… Do you mean?" I say, surprised.

Gaviel raises one finger.

"In a battle, a mage's power is multiplicative, and a warrior's strength is cumulative. You learn fast, Syuufarin, your growth is only stunted by your lack of experience. You possess great strength, but that strength has only the foundations of a beginner. In a warrior's contest alone, my victory is certain."

"If I were to measure your strength, I would say about two or three beginner's."

Gaviel raises the rest of his fingers.

"But multiply the strength of three beginners by ten novice mages… even I struggle."

I stared at him in shock.

"Syuufarin. Skill, strength, there are beings in this world that have reached unimaginable levels of power. I excel in hunting beasts, just as your guardians excel in their own specialties. You may not reach our level in a lifetime, but you are far, far away from being weak."

"Syuufarin, you focus too much on your own shortcomings, think for a moment, what is your strength?"

He slowly shifts into a combat stance.

"I will ask again, are you ready?"

Pride, Joy, Happiness. Such feelings began to gush out of me.

It's hard not to feel embarrassed when someone compliments you with a straight face.

"...Yes!"

Dahlia, who had been standing a distance away, smiled. "Then, if you're both ready?..."

She clears her throat.

"The Trial of Combat!" She raises her voice and a hand for all to hear, silencing the few whispers of the waiting crowd and picking their attention. "For the sake of the path ahead of us, for the assurance that our kin is safe in the hands of Gaia come peril and evil. We sharpen our bodies, grow our minds, and train the spirit."

There is a pause for the overenthusiastic applause to die down. "Syuufarin has passed the Trial of Nature! Learned the ways of the forest. Left the nest and took flight. She braved the outside world alone and returned uninjured!"

A round of applause comes from the crowd.

"She has also passed the Trial of Mind!... To know the flow of the world.. Clauren and Samyra have taught and tested her thoroughly as she lived alongside them and they strongly vouch for her!"

'Wait— When did that happen?... I thought there would be a test or something but she says I already passed?' I look towards the pair standing in the audience. Clauren begins to do a wide-mouthed cackle, then Samyra pinches his side and looks away embarrassed. Clauren continues his motions of cackling with pride while painfully clutching his side, but no sound comes off from his mouth.

"Today is her final step towards emancipation. Although her time with us has been very short, I can say with confidence that we will all miss the girl that has grown to be irreplaceable."

Dahlia raises a round bell.

"The first one to land three hits or a lethal strike wins, start when this bell hits the ground… begin!" She then throws it high into the air between us.

The surrounding crowd who watched the spectacle waited with bated breaths.

…

Syuufarin's thoughts raced. How could she possibly win?

She had never used magic against another person before. In the training with Gaviel she only practiced with blades, bows, and all the skills rangers have to go in the forest and hunt beasts.

Maybe it was a given that to journey into the outside world, learning how to fight other people is a crucial skill to learn. After all, monsters and beasts are not the only dangers.

Syuufarin doesn't know that, for all that Gaviel is a skilled and powerful ranger, he has little expertise in martial arts and combat against humans. At least, not in the way humanity evolved their combat styles to go against each other.

The elves' combat style has a strong foundation, but ultimately it is geared towards hunting beasts and taking down foes larger than oneself.

When they spar or duel each other, although the term "duel" is used. The fight itself devolves into a "hunting" match against each other.

The Trial of Combat doesn't exist to see if someone is better than the other in a win-lose competition.

It exists to see if someone has the determination to turn the naturally harmful intent of "hunting" towards another one like them. To raise a blade against a sentient kin in a high-stakes scenario. The Trial was devised in order to make sure they would be able to defend themselves without hesitation when the time comes, having the courage to hunt a beast is much easier than to have the conviction to hurt, or even kill another person.

If the Trial in the forest is a test of skill, and the Mind Trial a test of intelligence, then the Trial of Combat is a test of grit.

The idea that "you must defeat me to go past this point." that everyone agrees to feed to the younger generation isn't wrong per se, simply not the whole story.

In fact it wouldn't be incorrect to say that she already had the qualifications to leave. Really, everyone was just gaslighting Syuufarin together without anyone planning anything.

It just so happened that everyone wanted to see her go through the Trials. "She is going away? Then let's make sure she goes completely prepared, and take the longest possible time to do so." Was the tacit agreement shared.

Syuufarin didn't know, but the large celebration happening around her had been a long time in the making.

Now, in the moments before the climax of her five years in the village with all eyes on her.

Her heart is filled with determination.

…

*Jingle* The bell lands.

Immediately I leap backwards to create distance.

What surprises me is that Gaviel also leaps back.

I had assumed that he would attempt to close the distance to impede me from preparing spells.

A second later, an earth wall suddenly explodes into existence right in the spot where I had been standing. Had Gaviel rushed to engage me he would have been hit by it.

Behind the wall where I couldn't see, Gaviel showed a rare smile—

—No, a wide grin showing teeth.

For a moment I thought about the wind cutting magic I knew, but it would be too dangerous. I don't want to hurt him like that.

The way my magic is constructed leaves little to no room to adjust the potency of the spells. They do the one thing they are designed to do and they do it well. But flexibility is often lacking and in the hands of how the caste applies the magic.

In that moment of hesitation, Gaviel moves. I hear quick footsteps and suddenly I see already on top of me as he leapt over the wall.

A loud clang of metal on metal rings as I brace myself for his attack. I try to push back, but as soon as I do I fall forward as I lose my leverage at a sudden lack of resistance.

I quickly stand back up and see Gaviel some paces away from me with the arrow that might as well be a spear.

One advantage I have against him is that in a clash, since I'm much shorter it is very awkward for him to apply strength. It's… an unbecoming strategy, but fiercely grabbing onto him and not letting go is how I won against him one time. Though from then onwards he learned to not let me get into grappling distance.

Gaviel's style is to jump in and out, getting close to deal damage and leaving right after to then strike at another angle. He doesn't press attacks, his pattern of attack allows him to drain the opponent of stamina while conserving his own.

But now that he is away and searching for an opportunity to strike, since I can use magic now, he is also giving me the opportunity to start preparing a spell.

It would be nice if magic wasn't so choreographed, the light all but an obvious sign of my intention. Like slowly drawing the string of a great bow.

Gaviel takes a large step forward and launches the arrow at me.

I momentarily panic, expecting that he would charge and use it as a melee weapon rather than throw it.

Then I launch the water bolt I was preparing at it to break its trajectory.

My plan was to use that magic to distract him and try to hit him once by closing into melee distance. Knowing he could dodge the spell anyways.

But it looks like he had the same idea, and throwing that arrow is faster than my magic.

I hastily bring up my blade upwards in defense once again and—

He passes right by me.

"—Huh?" I feel my tail being grabbed.

Gaviel had gotten behind me in the short moment I was focused on the arrow.

"Waitwaitwait!— AAAH!!!"

I am swung once, twice, and then I am thrown away like a bootleg bowser.

My body hits the ground sideways and I roll away with the momentum. Thanks to the grass that covers the ground it didn't hurt too much.

"Hit! Gaviel!" Dahlia shouts in the distance. A round of laughter sounds from the audience.

"H-hey! That—!" I yell after getting up. "Grabbing my tail isn't fair!"

"You have neglected your defense," Gaviel says in that knowing mentor voice. "And—"

—He leans sideways, dodging another water bolt I launch at him.

"It is not against the rules." He says with a deadpan voice, but his eyes are smiling.

I strangle the air in frustration and turn away from the crowd in embarrassment.

'If he goes behind me again I'm going to slap him with my tail.'

It dawned on me that I could also use my extra appendage offensively, I already knew that from repeatedly sparring with him, but overlooked in the heat of the moment.

Another Idea flashes in my head, and I quickly charge at him.

He swings his weapon first, using his longer reach to his advantage.

I swing my blade to meet his—

His swing was a feint, I misstep from overreaching my own attack and he repositions for a thrust instead.

I go with the momentum of my misstep, throw myself on the ground and roll sideways to dodge.

"Ｆｌａｍｌｕｍ！" From my position in the ground a bright orb of light flies forth into his face. I'd wanted to try and blind him more closely but this will have to do.

Gaviel notices and has time to shield his eyes and retreats a few steps.

This trade of blows ends in a draw and we're back to where we started. I stand back up.

'If I push aggressively, unless I manage to grab him he has an advantage of reach and can easily dodge. Playing defensively leaves the initiative to him, but if I time it right he can fall into where I am aiming my magic… landing a hit is another hurdle all together.' I think in the few seconds we spend measuring each other.

Another idea comes to mind, wind cutting magic is a little too lethal to use, but if I do this…

I dash right and begin running circles around him, readying a spell.

Gaviel's eyes narrow, and he decides to keep his guard up and see what I will do whilst turning to face me as I circle him.

"Ｅｒｄ　Ｓｉｌｄ！" Another wall of earth burst forth from the ground, separating us.

A few seconds of waiting.

"．．．ｇｌａｖｅ！" The wall is cut at its base, and with a strong kick it crumbles into itself.

By this point Gaviel raises an eyebrow. Wondering what I am doing.

I smirk.

Combination magic: "Ｍａｓｓａ　＜Ｖｅｔｏ＞　Ａｕｃｔｏｒ！"

It's a gamble if it will work or not. I carelessly gouged the circuit of another similar magic, a rather simple one that just sweeps the floor of dirt and dust, and stuck it inside the matrix for lifting magic because it felt like it would fit…

A wobbly wave of magic explodes from me, unstable, but holding itself together. The rubble of rock and packed earth surrounding me shift and vibrate for a couple seconds and then—

*FWOOM* A dull explosion of wind flies forward as I fire a spread of dirt shrapnel towards Gaviel. They don't go as fast as actual bullets, but certainly enough speed for them to hurt.

His eyes widen, he leaps backwards in retreat and swings his bastardized spear in an arch, focusing to protect his head.

Gaviel's arms and legs are peppered with flying pebbles, balls of packed dirt, and the odd stone. Throwing him backwards with force.

"Hit! Syuufarin!" Dahlia announces.

There's a beat of quiet as everyone waits for Gaviel to stand.

"A-are you okay?..." I tentatively ask him, lowering my arms.

I know he is sturdy enough to weather a hit like that from experience, but still… measuring the strength of my own spells isn't easy.

"Yes…" Gaviel coughs once, stretching his limbs and shaking off the bruises. "I am going to increase the difficulty now."

"Wait wha—?"

He dashes forward. Suddenly becoming twice as fast as before.

"Wah?!" I hastily bring my arms back up and deflect his overhead attack.

He swiftly recovers and follows with another swing in one smooth motion.

"Awawai—!" *Clank* *Clink* "I'm sorry!" *Twhap* *Clang* *Tink*

For a while I can't do anything but to block and dodge his attacks by a hair while quickly walking backwards.

Something gets in the way of my foot and I trip backwards, a horizontal slash barely grazes my nose as I fall.

I tightly close my eyes as I impact the ground. When I reopen them I see the glint of a blade closing in from overhead!

*Crack*

Gaviel's weapon bites into my dagger, splintering a large section of it after I block it.

I gulp down in fear.

*Crrrriiikkk* A tinny whine comes from the metal sliding on metal, the already failing integrity of the dagger falling apart with the friction.

At that moment, I lock my legs around his ankle, for good measure so does my tail.

He takes a cumbersome step back, dragging me with him on the dirt and disengaging weapons.

Then from me a torrent of water bursts forth, the magic spell all but engulfing Gaviel as he resists the push for a singular moment before being flung away as I let him go out of my grasp.

"Hit! Syuufarin!"

The dagger is thrown away. At this point it is just a hazard to everyone involved.

'Now I can only rely on my wand…' My thoughts race on how I am supposed to win now.

My inattention is driven away as I see gaviel already homing straight towards me.

I breathe in—

'I lost my composure too many times… Not being used to wielding physical and magic offensives simultaneously. Now I can focus just on my wand.'

—and breathe out.

"Aero Glave."

Gaviel immediately halts his advance and dodges the incoming magic, the earth in the place he was going to walk on is gouged and flung away.

I dislike, hate it very much.

This violent spell is all fun and games on any other occasion. Pointing it towards people I care about leaves a bitter taste in my mouth…

…But I'm not going to give up. I can interfere with Gaviel's movements knowing he can safely dodge them, that is the extent of what I am willing to do.

"I am going serious too!" I say, mirroring his earlier remark.

He grunts in response.

A beat passes as we stare down at each other.

In that brief moment of respite an idea forms in my head.

'It will need to prepare while surviving Gaviel's onslaught, but if I can pull it off…'

"Akvo Bolto!" I immediately shouted. A ball of water is conjured and shot as Gaviel once again begins to take swift steps towards me.

The magic is not as fast as the wind blade, but still a threat that still calls for some caution. He easily sidesteps the attack.

I shout again "Akvo Bolto!", over and over repeatedly. The simplicity of the spell and my familiarity with it enabled me to fire another one in just over a second of delay.

The water ball's form shifted from a round sphere to an elongated bolt as they traveled forth, appearing and gradually accelerating. They cut through the air with audible displacement and dug a little of the earth every time I missed.

Gaviel kept approaching me whilst dodging all my attacks. Instead of standing still I begin walking backwards and slowly shift to running at a pace away from him.

The magic I threw was wholly ineffective at actually hitting him… but it proved to be a good enough distraction to slow him down enough for me to distance myself.

For a whole long minute this back-and-forth continues between me and him.

All the while, I was slowly, painfully and frustratingly mounting another spell to use at the critical moment.

"Rgh…" An uncomfortable noise comes out of my mouth. 'I should have practiced more…' I complain to myself.

For reference, it is not impossible to cast magic without a wand, or a staff. Only supremely inconvenient and not recommended.

The foci essentially acts as a ram stick. It holds the spell imputed in place until you finish casting. My wand is good, as it can handle intermediate spells and all the suffering from the bullshit I made it go through. But it can only do one spell at a time.

Even with the water ball magic and the next one being relatively simple, casting one while preparing the other is like drawing with both arms at the same time— yes, arms, not hands.

My head strained itself constantly shifting attention to one and the other.

For a moment, I stop my barrage of magic. Grinning so wide it bordered on unhinged.

Gaviel even hesitated to take my opening.

'I really, really hope this works or I'm screwed.'

One second.

Two.

Three.

"Ｍａｓｓａ　Ａｋｖａ　Ａｕｃｔｏｒａ."

Originally just a party trick magic. With just a canteen of water one could play with and make all sorts of shapes for entertainment. However…

…There is no hard limit to the volume of water that the spell is intended to handle. That is up to the abilities of the caster.

And the whole area is completely covered in puddles of conjured water.

Like inverted rain, large globules of water began rising from the ground slowly.

My control of the spell was utterly abysmal and it was draining me like nothing else. I expected it but didn't think it would be so bad. I had to end it quickly.

Gaviel, finally deciding that it would bode bad news for him if he let me cook.

Large strides, his body cutting through the suspended water leaving a shimmering trail behind him. Faster and faster, so fast he seemed to be gliding above the ground.

The seemingly innocuous droplets began to converge.

He lunged towards me—

—And then he was not.

In that brief moment, when he was cruising through the air reaching to me. All the water around us sank with him as the point of mass.

He shouted in surprise and then his voice was muddled inside the water.

At that moment I let out a tiny sigh of relief.

I don't have the finesse to make a sphere to contain him. So I opted to drag him around on the ground with the mass of water like a slippery mass of wet towel paper.

With struggling effort I threw him as far away as I could.

…

"Ah…" I felt all the color drain from my face.

The direction I threw him was where everyone else had been spectating.

——— –– –– -- - -

"...You're getting remedial lessons."

"Yes..."

"It is good to be creative with magic, but the instructions on the grimoires exist for a reason. I don't know how you didn't blow yourself up— you're only allowed to mess with the circle formula on controlled and safe spaces, understood?"

"Yes…"

"I was there to prevent the imminent mess you would have created, but you need to be more aware of your surroundings…"

I have been getting scolded for hours now…

…Thankfully nobody was hurt. Granny Piyo stopped the deluge from hitting anyone.

After that the festivities continued and then concluded.

At one point the village druid, one of the Elders I seldom saw around, did a small ritual to "baptize" me… At least that is the gist of what I understood beyond the whole "coming of age" ordeal. After he finished he gave me an amber brooch with a wing design.

There's a whole depth of meaning behind it that I will get to at another time.

I've received a lot of little things from the village too, most of them food and small parting gifts. But some stood out.

That guy that always has more belts on his outfits than what is reasonably allowed gave me a belt… we had never even spoken to each other before. He sort of just came up to me, said some cryptic phrases, and left.

It was a really good belt though.

One person of the mage gang (what I call the crowd of mages that is usually hanging around each other inside my head) gave me a bandolier of inky, deep blue vials. Told me they were the best mana recovery potions in the village…

…They smelled really bad though. Enough for me to retch just being near even when sealed.

They admitted that the taste is bad enough to be traumatic but worth it, and that if I really don't end up needing them they would sell for a hefty price.

Money isn't something that I had considered when going on a journey, so I thanked him profusely for the emergency funds.

I also… sort of forgot their name. The more we spoke, the more anxious I got.

We weren't acquainted enough to be friends… I had just sort of been nominally included in their group as another one of the magic practitioners of the village. Outside of topics of magic, grimoires and the like, our contact was brief.

There was this one boy— younger than most —who approached me last when the party was ending that gave me a flower. I didn't know his name. He stammered something unintelligible to me, bowed, and ran off before I could ask what he had said.

It would be weeks into my travels before I realized what the gesture meant.

——— –– –– -- - -

[At the Gate]

There was no ceremony, no tearful farewells, no dramatic departure.

…just, a send off.

One last moment of normalcy.

I felt a strange sense of alienation. If I were an elf, with their greatly expansive lifespans, this would be a "see you later!" instead of "goodbye."

Gaviel, Clauren, Samyra, Sedia, Granny Piyo.

Unexpectedly, Saladin and the druid… priest?... The spiritualist Elder that wore leaf-themed robes. They are also here.

Epoke, I recall his name. He stepped closer and with a flourish he threw a handful of flower seeds over me. "Valleys and hills… walk with summer and shelter winter." His voice was airy and with that particular taste of authority, the good sort that is kind and old.

Having finished his duty. He simply leaves without a single word more.

"...what?"

"A blessing." Granny clarifies. "Don't worry about it, he is just shy. He was feeling left out and hadn't done much to get to know you."

"That tingled a little." I scratch my arms. Somehow that made me feel like a particularly happy aloe plant on a spring afternoon. And that this specific wording came to mind just confused me even further.

Next, Clauren and Samyra. Or Samyra and Clauren.

Begrudgingly, guiltily, confusedly, people that turned into someone who would call out with love, and that I would call back the same way.

I was not ready to love, to bond, again. I don't think I would ever be the same after coming to this world.

They were hungry, starving, yearning for someone to nurture, to love, to create. A sad fate kept them, and somehow I ended up barging into their lives.

There was an honest admission that they were projecting, seeing me with tinted lenses and expecting more from someone that had by all rights nothing to do with them and their past.

But I, too, yearned for something to ground me. After being in denial for so long and spiraling into a hole I would rather never fall into again.

"We'll miss you." Samyra croaked as she hugged me. Fingers doing that twirling motion on my hair that felt uncomfortable and soothing at the same time.

"...Me too." And it was a big achievement for me to admit. That, despite all my opinions, that I felt the way I felt.

Clauren hugged me too, but his' was tight and brief, as if squeezing the feelings out as quick as he could to not embarrass himself. "None of that mushy crap. You're only going to be gone for a few years."

"I'll try to visit…" If I ever see them again, they will be looking not a day older. And who knows how I would change?

There's an inescapable existential dread from having a relationship with elves. Their time versus yours, a constant reminder of how it would all end.

Gaviel, a man of few words and many actions— though really he is just a normal guy, a very competent one, he simply seems more scary than he should.

He stepped up together with Saladin, which made everyone's eyebrows rise.

Saladin, ever caustic but without a real edge, spoke: "You are either the unluckiest person I had ever had the misfortune of knowing, or there is a larger conspiracy afoot." He shot a look towards Granny, who communicated an unspoken discussion with just her eyes.

He takes out something he had hidden inside his robes, an ornate sheathe.

"This is?..." I say the rhetorical question out loud.

"Don't die." Short and concise. Leaving no space for me to gauge his thoughts. "Gaviel pestered me for this and I'll admit that I agree you will somehow get yourself into unimaginable trouble… again. Maintain it well and this dagger should serve you for decades if not your entire measly lifespan."

With those parting words and unmentioned warnings, he left.

I look at Gaviel. Expecting him to say something profound and meaningful.

He gives me a thumbs up.

"Um… thanks!"

Now I have two knives, one is a rugged and sturdy one that I use as a tool. What Saladin gave me though… is a dagger. The stabbing type.

'What in the world urged them to give me a weapon— Nevermind I think I can guess why, but still… Is this normal? I feel like I am already more than lethal enough.'

Then, Granny Piyo along with Sedia.

She approached me, revealing a wrapped up object— and suspiciously staff-shaped.

Sedia is holding a large grimoire, and I can tell it is a grimoire because it has a lock shutting it close.

Granny chuckled in mirth, seeing my eyes sparkle. "I believe it is about time you have your own."

It was a thing of beauty.

The shaft is made out of a ivory material, dark grey, with twisting and sharp grooves that run up and down its length that give off the impression of wood grain, glinting with a silver sheen when light reflects off it. Its bottom is fitted with a simple pommel, serving as counterweight to keep it well balanced. The crown twisted inside itself in a C shape, with an organic design as if a shellfish had a vaguely halberd-like shape. The material changes from the dark grey ivory to a dull white wood in the inside of the curve, housing a transparent globe within like a fitted gemstone.

A poke to my cheek pulls me out of my stupor of admiration.

Sedia, holding a book that is a little oversized for her hands, grins at me.

"There's this thing too!"

Granny continues for her "You would not find this book anywhere in the normal library, for safety reasons. This book contains many of the invocation magics and spells that would otherwise be dangerous, amongst other things."

"Whoa…" I utter in awe. "...How do I open it?" I didn't see a key anywhere.

She showed me to press a button there, hold a latch on the other side, and explained both the owner registering enchantment and the magic puzzle. Overall it felt like trying to start an old car that was jerry-rigged to have extra safety switches to prevent theft.

"Can I ask why I learned just one offensive magic?" I mutter out loud. "It would be nice to have known more before I left for the forest."

"Do I look like I would give a toddler the magic equivalent of a broadsword?" Granny quipped.

Clauren pipes up. "At most you would encounter some fang-beasts and toxic flora. Nobody expected… that to show up."

"...point."

Granny looks away for a second, pensive.

"Are you sure of your wish to leave? You could stay a few more years at least, there is a lot to learn still."

"No— I mean, Yes. I'm sure…"

I tightly close my eyes and turn away from her.

"...If you all keep asking, I'm afraid I am going to change my mind. I know that in your eyes I am just 17 and barely a whelp, but I want to go. If I don't go now, then when? Yeah I can be a very stubborn person, but my resolve to leave on a journey isn't all that big."

I start rambling away.

"...I'll miss you all, everyday, and I don't think I will ever stop. Because I know that, If I turn back now I feel like I will stay here peacefully for the rest of my life…"

At some point it began to rain, my face was strangely wet.

"…That would be nice, yeah, but then I would be wasting my life when there is so much out there you know? And I don't mean that I would hate being here, but I want to explore too and—"

A large hand pushes my head down, ruffling my hair and messing any combing I had done previously.

"What'd I say kid? None of that mushy crap…" Clauren's voice echoes, uncharacteristically subdued.

*sniff* "I'm not crying, you are."

"I sure am." He simply agrees.

"...Godsdammit, why are you trying to be funny now out of all times?"

"Is it working?"

"...Yes"

Samyra leans over, standing beside Clauren "So… this is it, then?" She laughed dejectedly. "I'm feeling lonely already."

Gaviel has that look on his face considering doing something drastic or not. He shakes his head then sighs.

Sedia squeezes herself through the gaps on the adults' legs and initiates maximum skin contact.

"Y-you come back… Right?" She sniffles out.

Despite being older than I am in magnitudes at times like this she truly is just a child.

"I will, maybe not soon, I don't know when. But I don't plan on settling down anywhere." I promise her.

"It is not easy, but you all will get used to it in time." Granny tells Sedia, but what she said was meant for everyone.

A long quiet is shared among us.

"What are you all being so awkward for?" Granny Piyo shoos me off, startling me into taking a few steps. "Go! The sun isn't going to wait for you."

"R-right!" I stumble a little. "Bye! See you later!"

"Bye-bye!" Sedia shouts a little too loudly.

"We'll miss you!" Samyra waves largely, tearing up.

"Don't die!" Clauren yells, almost bawling. He had been holding it in for a while.

"If you do… I will make you regret it!" Gaviel stumbles over himself.

"What?!" I laugh, and it feels great to laugh after all that. "That doesn't make any sense!" I shout as I keep walking away.

"It doesn't!" Granny speaks. "But I can make sure it does somehow! So watch yourself you hear!"

I laugh again, and so do they.