Read I Can Make Everything Level UP Chapter 51 - Cooperation (7) online for free - AllNovelFull
Billy tried to find some similarities between the lifestyle of the elementalists and the points they obtained the power to control mana, but he didn't find any. After that, he dueled with some of them and asked at the same time. One learned when he was playing with food, the other while she was playing with other kids, when they were sleeping they suddenly woke up in a bed made of earth…
In the end, after a full day of duels and lessons, he didn't learn anything new. However, he still had a hypothesis, what if the elementalists get used to controlling mana after seeing other people do so for many years? While he was just an average dude in his previous life, he became quite adept at that after leaving with a tribe of spearmen for ten years. It seemed too simplistic, but it was the only thing that Billy concluded.
In any case, after going home, nothing changed, even though his parents had heard that Billy spent the day with the elementalists. They connected the dots after the meeting with the lord, after all. Also, Billy told his father to hold the spear for as long as possible, and he obeyed, even though he couldn't see the point. On the next day, though, Drew felt a lot better.
"This spear is… a magic spear?" Drew said. "Did you know that, Billy?"
"I assumed that was the case since I felt pretty good while carrying that around," Billy replied. "It was a gift from the lord."
"Yeah… I had seen it in his office a few times," Drew said. "I didn't think you had impressed him so much to the point where he would give you this so readily. I am sure he knew the effects that this spear had."
"Anyway, it doesn't matter, just stick with it to get better as soon as possible," Billy said.
Billy had checked on the skill shop for the ability recovery, but he didn't find anything… even though he had 145 skill points. Considering its effects, it wouldn't be weird if that cost five hundred skill points, after all. Still, it would be worth it since Billy would be able to improve its effectiveness several times on a single day.
After breakfast, Billy found his friends on the way to their guard duty, and aside from Alexander, who looked troubled, Lily and Natalie looked displeased.
"What is your goal in hanging out with those people?" Lily asked.
"They almost creeped your father, Billy," Natalie said.
Billy wondered if they would keep their mouths shut if he told them the truth. If they manage that, it will be fine, but his whole mission will be destroyed if they don't. Still, after thinking for a while, he came up with a solution to that problem. He told them what Edward mentioned about the past…
"I want to avoid that kind of thing from repeating itself," Billy said. "Besides, they could become good allies."
Billy didn't say that he wanted to help on the bridge plan or the fact that he wanted to learn their magic because if that spreads, things will indeed get complicated, and nothing else that Bille does will be able to solve the problem.
"Hmm… if lord Edward says that, then it is probably true," Alexander said. "What would he gain by lying about that?"
"I guess so…" Lily said.
"I still don't like this," Natalie said. "They can't receive special treatment just because they can do something that no one else does!"
After saying that, Natalie hurried to leave the others behind. She still was a kid, so she couldn't separate her emotions from her logical side. She was smart enough to know that they would benefit a lot from turning their elementalists into allies, but not enough to realize that they should move on and forget the past.
"Oh, well, I suppose it can't be helped," Lily shrugged, and then she went to her post with Alexander.
Billy wanted to know what couldn't be helped, but he had more important business to deal with in the end. For some odd reason, the elementalists looked less haggard that day. Even the ones who used a lot of mana to duel with Billy. Maybe Edward decided to give them enough food since Billy was already putting his plan into motion. In any case, he had a few different plans today, but even though she lost yesterday, the black-haired girl still was ready for another round.
"You sure are stubborn… What was your name again?" Billy asked. "Come to think of it, I never gave mine. I am Billy."
"My name doesn't matter… I am the one who will kill you," The girl said.
"Wow, so edgy…" Billy frowned. "Oh, well, I guess it is fine."
They dueled again, and this time, the girl had some countermeasures for Billy. When she tried to impale him with four spears, and he made one not show up, she fired some wind projectile. Billy didn't feel the changes in the air when that happened, so that confirmed his previous suspicions…
However, Billy still dodged the projectile that was aimed at his head by moving his neck to the side because he never moved his eyes away from the girl.
"It seems you can't combine the elements, that is a bit disappointing…" Billy said.
Being looked down enraged the girl, to the point where she created a Fireball with all her mana. Not only that, the massive sphere was so big and hot that it began to make everyone around sweat bullets. That was something Billy couldn't defend or dodge…
"Do you want to kill your friends?" Billy asked.
The girl finally calmed down a little and noticed dozens of arrows being pointed at her tribe, not to mention, she also noticed that her fireball was wounding the people around her.. In the end, she quickly made the fireball disappear… even though she didn't recover any of the mana.
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Billy sighed in relief because he knew that while he could protect himself from killing the girl, the fireball would explode anyway and kill many of the elementalists while gravely injuring others. He made a mistake in taunting the girl…
"I guess this is your loss," Billy shrugged. "In any case, instead of telling me what you don't understand I want you to show me Zen in action."
The girl thought that she would be punished in some way and was ready to beg to let her family out of that. Still, then she heard something unbelievable… no one aside from the most powerful and skilled members of her tribe knew about that skill. It was impossible that others knew that… even those who had the skill and lost battles fought until their deaths to keep that as a secret.
"What is wrong?" Billy asked. "Show me Zen."
Billy thought that Zen was just an ordinary skill like the others, perhaps one level or two above Meditation. Still, considering how silent the area became after he mentioned the name, it seemed that he had made a mistake… When he joined the guard, he saw several elementalists with that skill, but it looked like only a few of them had it. He used Appraisal on the girl and then Analyze on Zen without any other choice.
Zen
It permanently increases your mana by ten points per level, and it also increases your control over if, granting the power to use more mana at the same time to increase their power.
Billy frowned when he read that… it was a bit different than he had expected. Still, the effects were pretty good. Both passive and the later one was basically what he wanted… a means to control mana.
"Well now… what should I do?" Billy thought.
The girl kept the existence of that skill a secret, and if he suddenly explained what it could do, it would raise suspicion since he didn't know what it could do a few seconds ago.
"Well, I suppose showing me the secrets of your tribe wasn't a part of the agreement we made yesterday," Billy said. "So, let's return to the usual."
Billy just learned a few secrets of the elementalists, so he didn't have to hurry. He made a lot of progress in just a few days, after all. In any case, that time, Billy asked how the elementalists could control fire since there was no fire around. Much to his surprise, the girl gave him an answer right away. Basically, they control the temperature around them to make a single place hotter than usual, and they feed that spot in the air with wind magic. With wind magic, they control the shape of the fire spells.
"Basically, one couldn't learn fire magic without learning wind magic, is that right?" Billy asked.
"Yes… few people can use fire magic," the girl replied. "We usually learn Earth magic first and then try the other elements in this sequence: water, wind, and fire."
Billy didn't have to ask why. The obvious reason was obvious… controlling fire and wind were harder since they couldn't see the magic in their simplest forms. That made sense. Fire was probably the most dangerous of the elements. It had a high area of effect, and the damage will last for quite a while…
After that, Billy had to duel with the same guys of the previous day. For some reason, they were all younger than eighteen. The adults would feel ashamed in defeating Billy… not like they could understand how he could interfere with their magic. As for the young ones, they were challenging him because they were stubborn.
In any case, Billy had the chance to see their magic being used up close for hundreds of times. However, he still couldn't understand the basic principles of mana control… and he had a lot of it, so the difficulty wasn't that big.
"Maybe I should do like usual… try and practice thousands of times," Billy thought while rubbing his chin. "Also, since I already can manipulate Earth, I should practice with water."
Before going home that day, Billy asked the girl to show a demonstration of water Manipulation. Just as he had expected, it was similar to fire Manipulation since she condensed the water in the air to create a Water Ball. While he was playing with his siblings by throwing some droplets of water at them, Billy tried to send his mana to the water inside a pot, but it didn't work…
"Zen is a passive skill that has two effects, but it is hard to believe that such a skill can't be trained normally…" Billy thought.
If it weren't a skill that couldn't be used manually, the girl wouldn't have panicked before. So, there was a trick to learn it… in the end, Billy didn't make any progress during his days off. However, he came up with a theory, and he decided to put it into practice the next day since Edward passed him the message that he could continue with what he was doing while interacting with the elementalists.
Billy just sat there and closed his eyes and then began to meditate. His mana was full, so he was no need to do that. Still, he had a feeling that it was the answer… Nothing happened for several hours, but Billy began to feel his senses improving. His body was recovering mana even if it didn't need it, after all. In the end, Billy's senses got sharp enough, thanks to the extra mana, that he began to feel like his body was expanding. He didn't feel lighter or heavier, so it was a weird feeling. In the end, he only opened his eyes when he felt some presence approaching.
Congratulations! You have learned the skill Mana Infusion.
"What are you doing?" Natalie asked when she, Alexander, and Lily appeared.
Billy smiled and then raised the palm of his right hand before infusing some of his mana into the air. Even though he used enough mana to create an Earth Ball on the size of his fist, only a water Ball on the size of the tip of his finger appeared.
Congratulations! You have learned Water Manipulation.
"I guess I need more training," Billy said.
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Billy's friend's eyes were wide open. Even the few elementalists that saw what he did couldn't help but be shocked. Billy had awakened his magic powers by himself… or so they thought. They didn't know that he could use Earth Manipulation from the very beginning.
"What the hell… how did you do that?" Lily asked.
"20% luck and 50% skill," Billy replied. "Plus, one hundred percent concentrated power of will."
Billy didn't waste time and began to train Water Manipulation. The remaining elementalists saw that, and everyone confirmed that Billy didn't learn it by struck of luck. He had understood things about magic completely... he didn't learn by chance like them.
"You… How did you do that?" The black-haired girl asked.
Billy wondered if he should spread the things he learned… basically, he just had to infuse his mana into the elements. His level of magic, the mana used, the manipulation level will also determine how much and for how long he can control an element. Still, while that solved many mysteries, it would take a while for the others to pull that off since he was the only one who had mana close enough to the elementalists.
"I just became more aware of my mana and after meditating and increased it for a while, I could feel the magic presences near me," Billy replied. "Just like you said, I just have to be able to control mana and then envelop the elements with it and then control them with my will."
"I didn't understand a single thing that you said…" Alexander said.
"How did you learn Water Manipulation even before Earth Manipulation?" The black-haired girl said.
"You said that it would be easier to learn Earth Manipulation… so, I should be able to," Billy said and then used Earth Manipulation, making the sphere of water fall.
While he could do a lot more, Billy decided to make them think that he had just learned that as well. The word quickly spread to the guards that Billy had learned magic, and the youngest ones thought that they could learn as fast as him. They made a mistake. Even when they followed the exact instructions, they didn't feel the mana of those around, but Billy could see their overall mana and magic increasing after a full week.
"I thought it would be easier," Lily said.
"It is easy… so easy like copying the multi firing technique of your tribe," Billy said.
Although it sounded like sarcasm, Billy's friends understood the meaning of those words. To master the techniques of another tribe, they would have to put the same amount of effort they put into learning the techniques of their own. In any case, Billy spent that week teaching his friends and those who didn't give up. In the meantime, the elementalists decided to stay away from him, not to reveal any more secrets of their tribe. Still, no one blamed the black-haired girl since they also assumed that it was impossible for others to learn their magic.
"I am impressed that you learned that, Billy," Camilla said. "Still, don't go on showing that magic to others because the veterans still looked troubled over it."
"Got it," Billy said. "I have a feeling that you can learn that pretty easy, mom. You should try it."
It wasn't feeling. It was just the fact that she had more mana than most of the warriors of the tribe. In any case, Billy thought that his father would be against that, but since he had a lot of free time recently, he began to meditate and increase his mana as well.
"Is Billy here?" Nikola suddenly appeared and asked.
"Yes, I am…" Billy frowned.
"Lord Edward wants to talk with you about the recent events," Nikola said.
"Is he mad?" Billy asked since Nikola was the one delivering the reports for him.
"No, he looked pretty excited in fact…" Nikola said while forcing a smile for some reason.
Billy thought that he would be angry due to the lack of progress, but it seemed he wanted to learn more about magic… he was probably like the others that thought that it was something that could be learned instantly. In any case, Billy headed to the mansion to talk to him the next day, and when he found Edward, he looked like a kid who couldn't calm down.
"Oh! You came earlier, Billy," Edward said and pointed to a chair. "Sit down, sit down… I want to hear more about your recent discoveries."
"Sure, but… I don't think that we can build the bridge without the elementalists," Billy said.
"Oh… you realized what I was thinking," Edward said. "Is that difficult to teach that kind of magic to others?"
"It isn't difficult… but the practice is complicated," Billy explained. "The elementalists awaken those powers naturally because they see those around them using the same magic hundreds of times when they were kids. Thanks to all that, they grow more sensitive to the mana in their surroundings… to people like us, we would need a certain level of mana to be able to forcefully awaken those powers."
"I see… I imagined that their powers were a lot more convenient than that," Edward said. "I suppose they have a limit, just like our stamina and they need to learn and control it with constant practice."
Billy wondered if he was the only one who thought that the elementalists weren't blessed people for being able to have those powers. More and more, he was confirming that the others were thinking like that…
"Regardless, do you think that with the numbers we have, we can build the bridge in one year without the elementalists?" Edward asked.
"That is unlikely, even the kids who wanted to learn their magic didn't last more than five days with the practice I came up with," Billy replied.. "The adults clearly disliked that… unless you force everyone to only focus on increasing their mana and training Earth Manipulation, it won't happen."
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"I see… we really need the elementalists, huh," Edward said. "Well, they should be getting tired of sleeping outdoors, so pretty soon they will accept my offer, but their loyalty…"
"I am still working on that," Billy said. "Still, I should get some results soon enough."
"That is good to hear," Edward said. "If you accomplish that, I have something even better than that glaive waiting for you. I am sure you will like it."
Those words made Billy more worried than anything, still, he forced a smile and then left the place. While he was walking toward the training grounds, Billy wondered what he should do. First of all, he had to make the elementalists more relaxed around him, but since they feared the possibility of revealing more secrets, they were keeping their distance. So, Billy had to show them that it was useless… by learning Wind and Fire Manipulation. He tried to perform those on the way, but he failed at that.
"As expected, the level of difficulty is really higher…" Billy thought. "Perhaps if I increase my magic…"
Billy had some free points, so that was possible, but he was thinking that he was getting too inclined to the use of magic. In any case, while his friends were meditating, he called the black-haired girl.
"Hey, let's duel," Billy said. "If I win, you don't have to teach me anything."
The training was a good way to become stronger, even when it is related to magic, but fighting was even better. Unfortunately, things didn't go the way he had planned. The girl didn't even respond to his invitation.
"For someone who almost caused a disaster with that fireball, you sure are cautious," Billy said. "Anyway, does anyone else want to duel me? I know that you guys want to see me dead… I can understand why, though. I killed many of you, and the ancestors of the tribes here chased you guys away to that hellish place. While that is understandable, I don't plan to die, because I don't plan on paying for someone else's crimes. All of us suffered enough, my tribe had to abandon their previous territory because of your attacks, my father almost got creeped by that guy. Thanks to all that, I understand that if things continue like this, we will end up killing each other. So, I am done with fighting against you."
Billy thought that his words would fall on deaf ears, but he could tell that some people were paying attention to him. It wasn't surprising that some of the elementalists also shared those same thoughts. Using those kinds of feelings in his favor didn't feel right, but Billy didn't know what else he could do.
"You guys came to attack us time and time again, you put several tribes against the wall, but failed in the end," Billy said. "If you want to keep this war until one of the sides is completely annihilated, then you should try something else aside from waiting for help in this place. If you want to move on with your life and forget the past like me, then maybe you should consider lord Edward's offer. It is pretty good if you ask me, my tribe had to work for years before they got the privileges that he is offering to you… What is going to be? Will you continue the fight of your ancestors or are you going to live your own life and see what lies beyond these small lands? We need your help… despite the bad blood that exists between us. With that in mind, you might think that we won't be able to achieve our goals without your cooperation and while it will take longer, we will definitely make our magic reach your level. Good luck catching up with the times after that."
Billy wondered if that was a good wake-up call for the elementalists. Their powers were useful, but he showed that they weren't special. Their powers could be obtained by others. Not to mention, they lost the war that they had been waging for decades. It was time for them to move on… Some people soon realized that, but Billy could tell that some didn't. The black-haired girl was one of them. It would be useful if one of the elementalists could join his group, but it didn't have to be her, after all.
The elementalists began to whisper something to each other. Pretty much half of them already were inclined to accept Edward's offer since they weren't that good at fighting and lost most of the ones who were. After that, half of the second group began to follow that trend… Much to Billy's surprise, only a few adults and around fifty kids didn't like the idea of accepting the offer… probably because it was something Billy made them think, and he was the one who killed the youngest hero of their tribe.
While Billy was thinking about that, he noticed something strange behind him. He felt a vibration on the ground, and when he turned around, he saw Natalie making a small earth spear rise from the ground. That was quite the progress… perhaps even more than Billy since he had the help of the system.
"This isn't so hard," Natalia said with her arms crossed and while puffing out her chest.
"Getting carried away again, huh," Billy said.
When the elementalists saw another kid learning their magic, they felt the urge to negotiate with Edward as fast as possible. They were thinking that their usefulness would decrease, and soon they would be treated as slaves instead of new allies. Billy had imagined that such a thing would speed up their decision, but he didn't think that Natalie would be the first… she had good senses, naturally, but she didn't have that much mana. Due to that, she lost control of the earth's spear soon enough and cooled down her head.
"Go meditate again and you will recover your mana," Billy said.
"Nah, I am fine, this much is enough to surprise enemies," Natalie said.
Billy sighed… in the end. He made an earth spear emerge from the ground and rotate at fearsome speeds before firing upward. After several seconds, the projectile fell on the same spot while making a loud thud.
"Yeah… maybe I can keep improving that," Natalie said.
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After that, many elementalists talked with Edward and accepted working for the town. They didn't have the human resources to take over the country, and they couldn't leave, so their only option was to follow his lead or become slaves. Not to mention, many of the elementalists were missing some real beds. While their lives weren't exactly comfortable in that arid region, it wasn't as bad as sleeping on the ground without a ceiling above their heads.
One week after all that day started, the remaining elementalists decided to bow their heads and accept Edward's terms. Speaking of terms, there was the matter of the reward, but Billy didn't give him the chance to give him anything because he had a bad feeling about it. He told him that he didn't do much, so rewards were unnecessary. For some reason, Edward didn't press the matter either…
During that week, Lily and Camilla also managed to learn Earth Manipulation. While he wasn't looking, even Anna managed to learn that… Billy never used Appraisal on her, but she was at level twenty-five, and her HP, MP, and SP were two hundred… weirdly high for a non-combatant. Billy investigated more and realized that it was probably because of her level eighty in alchemy… it was the highest level he had seen in any skill.
"This is interesting, but it will take a while to become useful," Anna said. "I suppose learning how to manipulate water will be more useful to clean wounds and such."
Offensively speaking, that wasn't the case, but since Anna was a healer, it was obvious. While most of his friends were trying to learn Water Manipulation, Billy was stuck in learning Wind Manipulation… for some reason. He was failing again and again. However, since there was no need to guard the walls with so many soldiers, he had a lot of extra time, but not much. Billy knew that Edward would want to build the bridge as soon as the elementalists got used to their lifestyle.
"Maybe I should see them using wind… even if they don't like it, we are allies now," Billy thought.
"You look more lost in thought than usual, Billy," Alexander said.
Before he could notice it, Billy arrived on the training grounds. The kids were training there alongside recruits. Naturally, his group of misfits was there as well. Speaking of which, Alexander was having a hard time learning Earth Manipulation. Meanwhile, Lily was trying to learn Water Manipulation. According to her, she wanted to use the wind to speed up her arrows, but it was hard to know if it was possible. Natalie, on the other hand, was refining her Earth Manipulation. She wanted to make Earth Swords that were as heavy as possible… It was a weird goal.
"I am having a hard time learning Wind Manipulation, so I was wondering what I should do," Billy replied.
"You learn the other two instantly… at least don't look troubled for having difficulties like normal people," Lily frowned. "Anyway, can you help me with my training? I want you to fire some Earth Bullets toward me, I will try to stop them with my arrows."
"While I do have some mana, wouldn't it be better to ask them for help?" Billy said while looking toward a few groups of kid elementalists.
"I have a feeling that they won't accept," Lily replied. "Even if they do, they will probably go all out to wound me… I can't afford to get wounded during training."
"All right… I guess this will be good training for me as well," Billy said. "I will fire blunt projectiles without much rotation and then slowly I will increase their speed."
At first, Lily had no problems dealing with those, but eventually, her arrows lost their piercing power and durability. Even though Billy wasn't going all out, she ended up hitting her sometimes. Whenever that happened, he felt a cold stare coming from Alexander. When that started to annoy him, Billy some Stone Bullets on his knees. Just enough to cause some pain, but not enough to break anything.
When Billy ran out of mana, he began to meditate and watch the elementalists, but none of them were using Wind Manipulation. The black haired girl was there as well, but even though she could use it as the strongest element, she wasn't using fire Manipulation. Again, Billy considered asking for their cooperation, but when he felt that group's glare, he decided to give up…
"I suppose I will take things slowly when it comes to magic, I have other abilities to train, after all," Billy thought.
There was no need to get flustered that others were catching up to him since he was trying to master so many arts… In any case, he trained with his finds day by day like usual since things were peaceful in the surroundings. One month after, he decided that those spiker-like scorpions began to show up in the area, and that was a sign of the changes in the times… since the elementalists were no longer hunting them, those monsters were reproducing quite fast. Thanks to that, the leaders of the tribes decided to send some groups to hunt those. It would be troublesome if one of those evolved, after all.
Speaking of tribe leaders, Drew made a complete recovery in that month. The effect of the spear was really outstanding. Still, his body weakened a bit, so he will have to do some rehab to recover his full strength. During that month, even though he took his magic training slowly, Billy managed to learn Wind Manipulation. In the end, the trick was speed… since wind doesn't have a proper body, it tends to disperse rather quickly, unlike earth and water that usually stays in a single place, deeply connected.. Weirdly enough, that speed was something he only obtained after practicing with other elements regularly, so he began to understand more why they were learned in that order.
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"Hmm…" Billy rubbed his chin thoughtfully.
Around two months had passed since the elementalists joined their side, and some rumors were spreading that Edward was already planning the operation to build the bridge. It will take a while, and since the river was far away, those who will there will have to stay for quite a while. Thanks to that, Billy was wondering if he should teach his siblings Earth Manipulation. Although they were barely four years old, they actually could meditate, and over the course of the last month, their mana increased considerably. Despite being kids, they were diligent and wanted to do the same as the rest of the family. After all, even Drew learned Earth Manipulation. Still, it might be dangerous to teach that to kids so small.
"Are you fine with that, mom?" Billy asked. "I am not sure about this, to be honest.
"It is okay, they are good kids, nothing bad will happen," Camilla said and then smiled. "You are such a worrywart."
Most likely, Billy and Drew will have to leave during the mission to build the bridge, and they will return only once in a while, so he won't be able to overview his siblings' practice. Still, Camilla could do that. Just to make sure, Billy told them that they shouldn't use the magic in several situations or against each other or other kids. If they do, Billy won't play with them or teach them anything. It seemed a bit harsh, but it was the only thing he could do to prevent accidents. Since Samuel and Samara pretty much idealized Billy, they nodded at everything with a serious face. They understand that magic wasn't a toy.
Thanks to all that, Samuel and Samara learned Earth Manipulation after just two weeks… They were probably the youngest ones that could use magic. Billy had heard that the elementalists only learn it when they are eight or nine.
"As expected, the environment truly is important…" Billy nodded to himself. "Maybe it is more of a psychological question than anything..."
"Yay! We did it! We did it!" Samuel said while jumping.
"It is a bit different from my brother's…" Samara said, looking a bit disappointed.
Billy only taught them how to control the earth for the time being. He didn't teach them how to change the shape and add rotation. Kids didn't need to worry about that, after all. They only need to get used to controlling it.
"You are a good teacher, Billy," Drew said. "In any case, here is your spear back. I am completely fine, thanks to you."
Billy looked at his father's feet, both of them had some small scars on them, but the wound was completely healed… it was quite shocking that the scar was so small. In any case, that was good.
"Are you going to talk with the lord, already?" Billy asked.
"Yes, the other tribe leaders had also been called," Drew replied. "It will happen soon."
"I wonder who is the new leader of the elementalists," Billy said while frowning.
Drew just shrugged since he didn't know that himself. In any case, the training grounds were closed that day, so Billy decided to take a day off and spend time with his family. For a change, his friends didn't come to visit him because they were bored out of their minds… maybe they were also enjoying their days off.
"I will have a lot of time to experiment while I am on this mission, so I don't have to worry about training today," Billy nodded to himself.
Recently, Billy had the idea of seeing what would happen if he manipulated the ground and tried to make it as hard as possible. Would it become iron? It seemed too good to be true, but the possibility exists… even if the elementalists never had any tools made of iron. Even if that was possible, it was fine… Billy soon would learn Fire Manipulation, and he would be able to melt things like iron easily and then turn them into weapons. Although, he will probably have to learn how to purify ores as well…
Although he only went for a fast reunion in the morning. Drew returned pretty late at night and informed his family that he and Billy would leave tomorrow at noon and would return only after two weeks. Apparently, Edward had already prepared the entire mission. Still, they wouldn't take any healers with them for some odd reason.
"We will leave half of the people that can fight here, in case something happens regarding the magic beasts," Drew said. "We have been hunting them down periodically, but it is impossible to control or find their nests."
"Returning after two weeks, how many days off will you have?" Camilla asked.
"For a while, only one week and we will return to the bridge," Drew explained. "The entire group can't return at the same time, so one third of us will come home at a time."
That wasn't so bad; Billy thought that they would be out for months, given how much Edward was looking forward to that bridge. Still, Camilla was a bit worried since Drew and Billy never stayed away from home for that long. Anna was the same as over, but she also was obviously worried since she bought some extra medicine with her own money and gave it to Billy and Drew.
"Don't get hurt like that again, otherwise, you will have to retire this time," Anna said.
Drew forced a smile, even though he knew that his mother-in-law wasn't joking. To make sure that his siblings would look forward to their return, Billy went all out and made them float in the air with a thin platform made of earth. They looked pretty happy and ecstatic thanks to that, but it wasn't something Billy could use too many times.. He had just learned that while he could transport things like that, it would require more mana due to the extra weight.
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The next day, after saying goodbye to their family, Billy and Drew headed toward the town's western gate. A large number of soldiers were waiting for them there. Around two hundred… Drew went to talk with the other tribe leaders, and then Billy found his friends. However, he was forced to stop when he saw who was the leader of the elementalists mas the black-haired girl.
"You sure like to look at her," Natalie said.
"I am just surprised… aren't you considering that you are both at the same age?" Billy asked.
"What are you trying to imply?" Natalie frowned.
"What I mean is that it seems that they are short handed, since she never managed to wound me…" Billy said and frowned as well. "Geez… what is wrong with you? Why are you so angry this early in the morning?"
"Mind your own business," Natalie said and then turned around.
"What a difficult kid…" Billy muttered under his breath.
She was probably mad because the girl was the one who caused a lot of problems to Natalia back then, on the day of the attack. As usual, she had a short fuse since she couldn't let go of that grudge. Nevertheless, Alexander was forcing a smile, and Lily was shaking her head. That really was a group of troublesome kids, and yet, Billy couldn't leave them alone.
"What do you think, Billy?" Alexander asked. "This mission will be pretty exciting."
"You are the same as usual, huh," Billy said. "Regardless, what happened to your bow? We are going to an unknown area, you should have the means to fight at a distance if necessary."
"It will be fine, I will trust my teammates," Alexander said.
That was something Billy couldn't do. Leave kids to watch his back… that would be insanity. In any case, the group soon began to move without worrying about any formation. While most of the tribes were pretty much divided, there were some groups like Billy's… that probably was a tactic to make the members of the tribes interact with the others more.
In any case, the group passed through the forest that the redhead archers used to hunt on that very same day and continued to March in that same direction. Billy hadn't seen that because of the thick forest, but there weren't many mountains in that area. So, it was hard to imagine why such a large river would exist there.
The trip would last for two days, even at their best speed, so it was the first time Billy would camp out the town without worrying about enemy ambushes. While he thought that Natalie and Lily would camp closer to their tribes, they actually camped on the same spot as Billy and Alexander when the night came, and as usual, they began to train. Not magic, but their physical skills.
"We don't know what we will find in the next few days, so you should hold back on the physical training," Billy said while he was touching the ground.
Using just a small amount of mana, Billy could check the vibrations on the ground, but by using a little more, he actually could sense things around him and even below. Finding stones and ores was possible, but he had to focus, and he couldn't do it while walking since some vibrations could only be felt with his hands… probably because his boots were getting in the way.
"What are you doing now, Billy?" Alexander asked since he never saw Billy doing that.
"You will see," Billy replied.
By moving his mana below and without taking control over any amount of earth, Billy could look for things, but the range was limited due to the density of the ground. Even at his best, if he were to check the deepest part, his mana could only reach five meters of depth and only in a straight line. After doing some searching, Billy actually found something harder than stone, but the shape was weird…
Using Earth Manipulation, he made a hole without using any tool, and when the hole was deep enough, he controlled the ground below the object and made the thing move upward. Although he used the smallest amount of mana possible, Billy still used one-third of his mana. He needed to practice more… Nevertheless, even him frowned when he found a rusted spearhead. It was beyond repair. Appraisal didn't even show anything when used… but it was clear what it was.
"You really found that…" Lily frowned since it was scary how fast Billy learned new things.
"It was pretty deep underground… how did it reach that place?" Alexander asked.
Billy wasn't so sure either… it was buried three meters below, and even with the passage of time alone, it would take thousands of years for that kind of thing to be buried naturally. Billy didn't feel the presence of bones, so it was safe to assume that it hadn't been buried with anyone.
The others asked how Billy searched for things underground, but they didn't understand much. They were kids with sharp heads, but since the people around them never tried to do new things, their way of thinking and creative process was seriously lacking. Maybe the elementalists could understand, or they could do that already, but Billy had no reason to help them since they were that uncooperative.
In any case, treasure hunting was fun, and Billy was even training his magic, so he had no reason to stop using it.
Billy - Lv 57 - 5430/7200 EXP
HP: 143/143
MP: 327/327
SP: 161/161
Strength: 60
Speed: 53
Magic: 146
Endurance: 25
Dexterity: 29
Status Points: 90
Skills: Deadly Wind Lv 13, Steel Spear Lv 10, Light Spear Lv 07,
Spells:Mana/EXP conversion Lv , Exp Master Lv , Analyze Lv 22, Appraisal Lv 9, Meditation Lv 23, Earth Manipulation Lv 18, Mana Infusion Lv 09, Water Manipulation Lv 06, Wind Manipulation Lv 04,
Passive: Language Skill Lv 45, Spearmanship Lv 30, Swordsmanship Lv 15, Archery Lv 25, Firing Speed Lv 13, Quick Spear Lv 07, Block Mastery Lv 01
Skill Points: 165
During the next whole day, Billy stopped to search for things underground many times, but aside from some small ores, he didn't find anything. Those could be worth a few coins, though.
"I guess it is easier to find those in mountainous areas…" Billy thought. "The chance of me approaching those places, for the time being, are small, though. Oh, well, it can't be helped."
"Hey, Billy," Drew suddenly approached and said. "It seems that the elementalists are interested in that thing you did yesterday. Sarah is asking if you can teach them how to do that."
"Who is Sarah?" Billy asked.
"Their leader," Drew replied.
So that was her name… Billy thought he had seen such a name sometimes while he was protecting the walls years ago… While he always could see her name using Appraisal, he wasn't interested in getting the name of someone so rude and bloodthirsty.
"Sorry, dad…" Billy said. "This isn't something you should be doing since you are our leader and all, but pass this message to her: if she wants to ask for a favor, she can come and ask herself. If the others want to learn it, they need to give something in exchange. We can trade knowledge for knowledge."
"You really are an insufferable brat," Drew said while laughing and messing with Billy's head. "All right, I will tell them that."
While he didn't show it, it looked like Drew also disliked the elementalists attitude. Some of them still were thinking that they were better than the other tribes and decided to use Drew for that. Since his son once wished to make a good relationship with them, they assumed that it would work… they didn't know that Billy was obstinate with things in his own way.
"Are you going to teach them that if they ask normally?" Alexander asked.
"Only if they help me learn Fire Manipulation," Billy replied. "I don't know if… no, it is nothing."
Billy almost let out his worries about the possibility of the elementalists revolting one day. They didn't have the strength to do so now, but in the future, they might have, and some of the youngest and most talented of their tribe still looked unsatisfied with the current situation, so it was a possibility. Nevertheless, that wasn't something he should tell his friends… They were still kids, after all. They wouldn't be able to hide such worries like him.
While looking around, Billy realized that there were no signs of magic beasts. There was no sign of human activity either… The tall grass was so dense in some areas that it was possible to miss some big ass rocks. To open up a path for the others, the elementalists cut the grass with their wind magic… they were willing to do that but not to ask for his favor.
"What a prideful bunch…" Billy frowned.
In any case, the group moved quite fast thanks to the elementalists opening the path, and on the morning of the third day after they left the town, they arrived at their destination, and they found a massive river that was at least two hundred meters long, and it went from north to south endlessly.
"It is pretty large river," Alexander said.
Billy knew several ones a lot bigger than that, but they were from Earth… in any case, now he could see why Edward wanted the cooperation of the elementalists. To cross something that large, they would need a very steady bridge, and the people of the town didn't know how to build them with wood. Earth magic was truly the only solution. Still, considering that the elementalists didn't know how to make a bridge, it might not last for long. When everyone approached, they saw some weird movements on the lake… Some big ass fish were there, and they had the ugliest appearance compared to all the others Billy had seen on Earth. Their teeth were quite long and couldn't even stay inside their mouth when it was closed. When a stupid kid approached too much, one of the creatures fired a Water Ball at his stomach and made him fall on the ground, unable to breathe due to the pain for a few seconds.
"The bridge will have to be pretty tall to withstand that level of attack," Billy said.
It would need some pillar as well, but… it wasn't Billy's problem. That being said. Hopefully, Edward had prepared such a thing. In any case, the leaders of the tribes had a meeting again while the others were unpacking and preparing their tents. They still had a lot of daylight left, so it was better to start working.
"The redhead archers will try to kill as many of those monsters as possible, and the elementalists will began to make the blocks of earth that will make the pillars," Drew said. "The other tribes will explore the surroundings and confirm that this place is safe, but you will try to recover those fish with your Water Manipulation, Billy."
"Okay, that should be easy," Billy said.
Attaching ropes on the arrows probably would help the redhead archers in recovering their arrows and the monsters. Still, they would need all the piercing power necessary to reach the monsters underwater, so that plan wasn't good. I'm any case, they probably couldn't exterminate all the magic beasts, but that should help.
Sahafir - Lv 53
HP: 240/240
MP: 470/470
SP: 180/180
Spells: Underwater Breathing Lv 53, Swim Lv 49, Water Ball Lv 33
"For a bunch of monsters, they are quite resistant…" Billy thought while he was heading toward the red archers.
"You are the one who is going to help, huh," Leo said, looking annoyed as usual.
"Yes," Billy said.
"Since you will need to get close to the river to manipulate the water, we will use you to bait the monsters, are you fine with that?" Leo asked.
"No problem," Billy replied.
"If anything, you have got guys, kid," Leo said while frowning.
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That wasn't the case. Billy only wasn't worried because he didn't have to get hit. Besides, seeing their projectiles should be easy as long as he can see the enemies. If the worst comes to the worst, he can always dodge if he fails at blocking the attacks with his spear. Regardless, once he grabbed his weapon with both hands and then approached the river. Using Block Mastery should be possible without damaging the weapon. It was only spheres of water, after all.
The red archers approached from the side, but they were farther away from the river than Billy, thanks to that, the monsters only approached the place Billy was, and without ceremony, three of them fired Water Ball. Billy swung the tip of his spear to protect his left chest from two while he twitched his neck to dodge the last Water Ball. While he succeeded with that, his spear vibrated for a while… The power of those Water Balls wasn't a joke. The enemies opened their mouths to fire again, but three arrows pierced their mouths and paralyzed them. Much to Billy's surprise, the arrows easily pierced the monsters' heads and killed them.
Billy shook his head and touched the water of the river. By creating some small waves, he made the corpses approach each other, and then by creating a small platform of water, he made them leave the river. The Sahatir were almost as big as him from watching up-close, but they were a bit lighter. Still, it consumed some of his mana to pull them out of the water.
"Nice work…" Leo said. "Their bodies aren't that different from normal fish. Maybe they are edible."
Billy hadn't realized that, but he was right… Still, it would take courage to eat that. Even if they try it well, there was a chance that someone would end up poisoned or with one hell of a stomach ache. Billy wouldn't be the Guinea pig since he was working, but… Nevertheless, while he was waiting for the next group of Sahati to show up, Billy looked toward the elementalists and saw them working in crafting some massive bars of earth. He hadn't tested that yet, but he saw the elementalists compressing the mass of the block to increase its durability. Transforming them into iron or other sturdier material will probably require another skill, one that they didn't have yet.
"There is more coming, Billy," Lily alerted.
Billy looked toward the next targets wondering if he could impale them and pull the bodies with some earth harpoons. While that could work, it would only be efficient if dozens of enemies were around, which wasn't the case. In any case, the new enemies didn't manage to hit Billy either since his guard was up, and they soon were defeated. Unfortunately, the speed that they showed up was too slow. While Drew didn't say that they should hurry up, Billy felt like it would be a good idea to take some of those fish back home if they were edible.
"Do you think if I drop some drops of blood in the river, more enemies will come?" Billy asked.
"... Why are you in such a hurry?" Leo frowned. "The construction of this bridge will take at least six months and we will soon have to make more arrows. There is no need to hurry up."
In the end, Billy nodded since he didn't have to hurry up. He was training his physical and magical skills at the same time, after all. In any case, around the time the sun began to set, Leo decided to stop the hunt. Billy had used Meditation a few times, and the red archers that helped him had used many arrows, so they had to craft a few more over time. Around the same time, the groups that went to explore returned.
"Did you guys find anything?" Billy asked when his group reunited in the same spot.
"Nothing aside from a few trees that gave us some fruits," Alexander replied.
"... I thought they would have done a lot more, did they slack off?" Natalie asked while looking toward the elementalists.
The elementalists only made a couple of earth blocks that were like five meters long and wide and half a meter tall. Creating something like that required a lot of mana, but she was being grumpy and unreasonable, so she didn't realize some obvious things.
"Hardening earth as much as possible requires extra mana," Billy replied. "Remember, we can't let the bridge fall anytime soon. They also did some tests earlier by firing Water Balls at the same size and speed of the monsters, and they confirmed that they will be ineffective against those blocks of earth."
"For how long? That should lose durability over time," Natalie said.
"That is a good question," Billy said. "To avoid problems, perhaps some of them still stay here periodically to make the bridge larger or make some repairs when necessary."
"Putting that aside, the fish smells good… has anyone one eaten it yet?" Lily asked. "I don't want to be the one who will bite it first, though."
Billy shrugged after hearing that Lily was reckless, but not that reckless. Regardless, some brave men decided to eat the fish, and after a few hours, nothing had happened to him. So, everyone assumed that it was fine to eat the Sahati. Come to think of it. Billy didn't find any mention of poison when he used Appraisal on the monsters. Still, Billy was more cautious than them, so he waited for a few days before taking a bite of those fish. There was the possibility that their poison might be weak, but it might become powerful after being digested many times. The others didn't care much about that since they were more interested in eating some fresh rather than conserved food.. However, Billy forgot something… he could have checked everyone with Appraisal and see if they had developed Poison Resistance.
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After a few days, Billy had gotten quite good at blocking the Water Balls of those aquatic monsters. Dodging was even easier, but he couldn't risk letting someone behind him get hit. In any case, both of his skills and magic were developing nicely, even though he wasn't training. He didn't even have much free time since he used meditation and recovered his mana from working.
"I knew I should have bought some extra rings and leveled them up," Billy thought.
Even if he had bought them, most likely, Billy wouldn't have had time to make them level up. The effects of automatic meditation were that useful and expensive, after all. Since he couldn't recover mana faster, Billy had to be creative. Instead of transporting them out of the water with a liquid platform, Billy fired the corpses toward him by using a water jet. At first, he had a hard time adjusting his mana, but eventually, he got it right and managed to save one-third of the mana being used. Speaking of which, Billy realized that controlling water from a body like a river was a lot easier than making them gather from the air around him. It also consumed less mana.
"Hey, Billy," Natalie suddenly appeared and then said. "You said that the elementalists are compressing the ground to make it harder… it also makes it heavier, right?"
"Not exactly, the mass is the same, but since it is occupying less space, it gives the impression that it is heavier," Billy explained.
"I don't get what you are saying, but can you imitate them?" Natalie asked. "I tried to do the same, but I failed and I want to put something into my swords to make them heavier for training."
Natalie got a lot more docile over the course of last week, probably because she was getting off the tension with training. He had no idea why she was so nervous, though. In any case, buying better swords probably was the best option, but that was possible in such a place. Billy also wanted to explain to her that having bulging muscles would make her stronger. Still, it also makes her movements slower and less fluid. It would be better to keep sharpening her skills instead of her muscles. Still, if that was her choice, then who was he to say otherwise.
"Okay, I can do that," Billy said. "You owe me one."
Billy never practiced that, but he knew the theory. Besides, the elementalists were going to put the first group of blocks on the river that day, so he wouldn't have to fish those monsters. Hopefully, Natalie will understand that just getting bigger wouldn't be enough, so Billy decided to make her realize it as soon as possible. He created some thick rings of the earth around her sword after compressing several kilograms of earth and putting them on the sword's pommel. It wouldn't get in the way of her grip, but she certainly would feel all the extra weight.
"Thanks, this will do it," Natalie said while swinging her swords around.
Speaking of training, aside from the red archers, the elementalists, and a few certain individuals, pretty much everyone in that mission had too much free time in their hands. While they needed to be cautious in case something happened, they didn't notice any weird movements on the other side of the river, so it was safe to assume that they were fine. Alexander and Natalie were practicing their skills during the day, and they practiced their magic at night… most of the old generations would get behind due to the fact that they didn't want to learn new skills. Still, they were thinking that the young ones wouldn't reach anywhere trying to master so many arts. Billy couldn't disagree more with that… after all, one can't train with their body nonstop, and they can only practice magic as long as they have mana. The balance between both was necessary.
Soon after, the elementalists began to work on transporting the blocks of earth toward the river. Since it might be troublesome to transport only one of them at a time because they might be hard to localize underwater, ten of those were being controlled by dozens of elementalists. Making the blocks float was impossible for a single person, but not for several of them. Still, Billy could see their mana rapidly decreasing.
As one would expect, their coordination was impressive. The blocks of earth moved for dozens of meters without losing balance or without having their connection being destroyed. Once they approached the river, some Sahati tried to attack, but red archers defeated them. Thanks to that, they managed to put the block on the river, and several of the blocks managed to stay above the water. Naturally, since they put it near the coast.
"Good work," Leo said while watching some Sahati attacking the blocks and not even scratching those. "We will have to repeat this process many times, but we can't get lazy. How about it, Sarah? Can your current personnel keep going at this pace for another week or do you want to return, give them some time to rest and bring another group."
"We can keep going," Sarah said. "This is nothing."
The meditation level of those guys was pretty high, so they could recover completely after a single night. Maybe they could recover even more by using Zen, but Billy never saw them using that. Regardless, Leo nodded at that response and asked the elementalists to create another pillar of earth blocks, this time, they will have to transport the blocks to the shore, and then they will have to jump to the first pillar because the goal was to put the second ten meters away from the first. They managed to do that, but in the end, they used all of their mana, and the progress of the construction came to a stop for the day.
"I wonder if there is something I can do to speed up all this," Billy thought.
Unfortunately, nothing came to mind since he was too busy helping secure food… he didn't even make much progress with Fire Manipulation either. Maybe melting some ores and covering their exterior with earth magic might speed things up, but first, they had to find the proper place to mine it…
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