Chapter 17

Chapter 17

Acupuncture (1)

In the empty training ground, the sound of a sword being returned to its sheath rang softly.

—Clack.

Because it was very late, I was the only one left in the training ground.

I had remained until late to train in mana operation.

Only now had I finally become able to handle mana in a way that was even slightly less crude.

I could now put mana into specific parts of my body. I still could not control the amount of mana well, so compared to others, I was still lacking.

At this point in time, I was satisfied with this much.

It seemed I had been able to grow quickly because I had experienced real combat.

“Whew...”

I crouched in one corner of the training ground and looked up.

Unlike the night sky seen in a modern city, countless stars were each giving off their own light.

I could feel the bracelet slowly recovering my stamina. My twitching muscles gradually settled.

The recovery power of the Bracelet Bearing Wishes was excellent. Since it was an Epic-grade item, its recovery power was not mediocre.

It was fitting for the bracelet of Reina, who could be considered quite the hard worker.

The fortunate thing was that I could personally feel the reward for running without rest.

After the level of Keen Senses increased, I could tell that most of my senses had developed greatly.

A gentle breeze brushed past the fine hairs on my skin.

It was certainly a flow difficult to notice, but I could faintly read its direction.

Perhaps dew was beginning to form, because the night air was unusually moist.

Even though I had been doing all sorts of things every night, I was steadily attending the academy.

It would not be strange for me to be steeped in fatigue, but I was abusing my body while trusting the bracelet.

After experiencing Edward’s classes a few times, as expected, all sorts of strange classes whose intentions were hard to understand were conducted.

“He should at least give experience...”

It was hard to say they were classes that provided absolutely no help, but since I had a status window, nothing was more effective for me than raising my level.

As for Eisel and Yuri, who could still be called the only human relationships I had built, there had been no particular progress in our relationships after the first class.

Yuri sometimes blushed pointlessly, but aside from having started speaking casually before I knew it, there was not much difference.

Eisel was... well, normally difficult to understand.

What she was thinking, what she was plotting—her face still made her intentions impossible to read.

It was not as if a person’s heart always appeared on their face, but after the previous incident, I felt as if her face had grown even thicker.

I will act more thoroughly.

That seemed to be her intention.

Eisel, covered in blood.

After experiencing that unexpected incident, I thought that it would not be strange for not only Eisel, but any character... in other words, any person, to die.

That was not good news for me.

They might not die, but there were plenty of people who would undergo dangerous things.

Perhaps even Yuri, who always looked at me with gentle eyes, was in danger.

To prevent such things from happening, I had to cut off the buds.

Just as I had killed Relial.

However, Relial was a special case.

The other villains who would appear from now on already possessed martial force surpassing mine.

“Cursed blade...”

The word circling inside my head slipped out of my mouth.

If only I had a cursed blade, I could become much stronger.

As much as I grew stronger, various paths to grow even stronger would open.

With the gold I had earned before, I purchased the monster byproducts.

I thought I had bought them at a fairly decent price for a blind man.

Was it because it was a market?

If someone nearby tried to scam me, there were checks between merchants, like, “Don’t go there, come this way,” so that was fortunate.

“They could have joined forces on purpose and fleeced me, though.”

I think their own psychological warfare had been fierce.

What remained until the creation was an object containing memories and the production fee of 500 gold.

500 gold.

A considerable sum.

It was an amount difficult to obtain all at once from the beginning.

In the game, there were times one could obtain gold through quests inside the academy, or as rewards from classes or exams.

Since the homeroom instructor was Edward, I had no expectations regarding class rewards. Waiting for exams was frustrating because the timing was too far away.

And internal academy quests or rewards would probably be too small to gather 500 gold.

Before the placement exam, I had also gone around picking up hidden money inside the academy, and among the easy quests, I had already done everything that could earn money.

Rather than steadily piling it up, I wanted to earn a large amount of money in one go.

There were many other methods too.

First, there was monster subjugation.

Simply put, doing an adventurer’s work, but that was too slow as well.

A monster worth 500 gold would be difficult to hunt with my current ability, and since adventurers had a ranking system, it would also take time to reach the rank I wanted.

Aside from that, there were also life-content-type activities like gathering, fishing, and hunting, but it did not seem easy to obtain 500 gold immediately through them.

“Illegal...”

Everything I had mentioned so far was legal.

In other words, ways to earn money without breaking the laws of the world.

Earning a large amount of money easily and quickly was ironic.

If it were possible, everyone would earn money that way.

Why would beggars sit on the street and beg?

Gambling.

There was a gambling den beneath a large city nearby.

“Go to the gambling den and play a shell game?”

If my senses had developed this much, I thought it was not completely impossible to make a large amount of money by listening to the sound of dice hidden under a cup.

But the people who ran gambling dens were not fools either.

If some blind man suddenly barged in and won a full 500 gold, they would naturally become suspicious. And even if they did not, it would be a loss to them, so a threat would certainly come.

For starters, the one who ran the gambling den was no pushover...

I remembered that her subordinates were fairly skilled as well.

The trustworthiness of a gambling den?

Silently killing a blind man who had appeared for the first time was no problem for them.

“I don’t have time to become a regular... and I probably can’t go wearing a mask so I won’t be identified...”

Is a quest the most suitable?

If it was a quest outside the academy rather than inside it, the range would become wider.

“The most suitable one for my current level...”

A quest that did not require outstanding martial force, and could be resolved as long as certain conditions were met.

And at the same time, a quest with a reward of more than 500 gold.

“...Ah.”

There was that.

Judging that I had found the solution, I rose from my seat and brushed off the dust.

“Keen Senses will help too... and it fits perfectly with a blind man.”

***

Only after several classes did the students of Class A finally enter their own Class A classroom.

In truth, calling this place a classroom was closer to calling it the training ground each class had.

Along the sides, long benches where students could sit were arranged in a stair-like form.

If one sat on the benches and looked forward, there was a large space of smooth white floor with nothing placed in it.

One-on-one sparring was sometimes held there.

In this academy, which could perhaps be seen as a combat military school, there was no reason to take notes on theory. The academy operated strictly around practical application.

As a result, there were no desks anywhere.

Since even classes were basically filled with lectures or experiences related to combat, I think classrooms like this were built.

Thinking about that, perhaps it was appropriate to call this a classroom.

Today’s class had already ended.

For once, Edward had called the students to the classroom and ordinarily laid out the concepts of magic, then demonstrated basic spells and taught the students. His explanation also included weaknesses of mages.

This time, my experience did properly increase, but unfortunately, my level did not rise.

It was true that as my level rose, the required amount of experience also increased, but even considering that, it seemed I had received only a tiny amount of experience.

Even though class had ended, few students had risen from their seats.

Everyone was reading the pamphlet Edward had handed out before leaving the classroom after class, and conversing with their respective friends.

“There’s an exchange group taught by Edward?”

“There is. The Illusion Magic Exchange Group.”

“Should I join the Cooking Exchange Group?”

“This person seems to be a chef from the academy cafeteria, and they cook well.”

Of course, I was also holding a pamphlet in my hand, but I sat there blankly without saying much.

I could not read the letters in front of everyone, so there was no helping it.

The pamphlet contained explanations about various exchange groups.

Exchange groups.

They could be seen as a kind of club within the school.

Aside from when creating a character, the player learned skills by receiving teachings from specific characters.

The same would probably apply to me, since I had a status window.

In the game, one could easily learn skills in exchange groups by receiving instruction from specific people.

There were mainly life skills that allowed one to enjoy life-related content.

Things like gathering and hunting.

There were also exchange groups related to various magic or weapon arts.

They were places where one could learn passive skills with effects that increased attack power for specific magic or weapons.

“Zeto, should I tell you what there is?”

Yuri, who was sitting beside me, held the pamphlet and asked.

For acting blind, the current kind Yuri’s presence was extremely helpful.

Originally, her personality was not so helpful to others, but perhaps the meaning of having a “friend” had been great.

In the game, it had been difficult to converse with her this intimately.

I smiled gently at Yuri and answered.

“May I ask you to?”

“I’ll tell you slowly. Plant Gathering Exchange Group... Fishing Exchange Group... Hunting Exchange Group... Ice Magic Exchange Group...”

Yuri read down the pamphlet, reciting the names of each exchange group.

“...Archaeology Exchange Group. Hm...? Human Body Research...? Exchange Group....That’s the end. How is it? Is there an exchange group you like?”

“Mm...”

I already had an exchange group decided, but I pretended to think, stroking my chin.

“Maybe the Swordsmanship Exchange Group? Because of my family, I have to enter the Fire Magic Exchange Group. Father told me I must.”

Since Yuri was from the Clementine family, one of the four elemental families, she was definitely going to enter the Fire Magic Exchange Group. Having the player enter that exchange group was also one of the routes to grow closer to her.

“What about Miss Eisel?”

I asked a pointless question to Eisel, who was sitting on the other side of Yuri.

“I’m not particularly interested.”

Eisel wore her characteristic indifferent face.

Strangely, she only spoke casually when I was with Yuri.

“Ahaha...”

As I remembered, Eisel in the game had not joined any exchange group either.

Joining an exchange group was not mandatory.

“This part is the same.”

These days, I kept finding myself testing Eisel without realizing it.

“So? Is there a place you like?”

Yuri asked me.

“Mm... Then I believe it was the Medical Technology... Exchange Group? Could you explain that one to me in more detail?”

“Sure! Let’s see... Ah, found it. Medical Technology Exchange Group. It says you can learn various medical techniques. The instructor is... Medical Officer Priscilla. I went to the infirmary once and met her, and she was nice.”

“Various medical techniques...”

“Medicine and... acupuncture too, it says? That’s unusual.”

“...That sounds quite good.”

After hearing Yuri’s explanation, I nodded in agreement.

I planned to learn “acupuncture” there.

There was a quest outside the academy that could only be resolved with acupuncture. The conditions could be somewhat strict, but for me, who knew them, it would not be a major problem.

Originally, entering the Swordsmanship Exchange Group would be the correct answer, but the situation had changed.

I would exchange a passive skill that increased swordsmanship attack power for the large sum of 500 gold.

It was something I could do because I had chosen Demon Swordsmanship, which was weak in the beginning but grew stronger as time went on.