novelraw Chapter 135: Erika’s Guidance
Chapter 135: Erika’s Guidance
Scenario anomalies were situations where a divine warrior’s scenario was disrupted by something external or an outside force. It could be higher beings, other gods, or even eldritch beings. In some rare cases, the anomaly could happen simply because of a lingering imprint of divine power. Still, they were so rare they might as well not exist at all, especially not this early on.
Welp, whatever. All’s well that ends well.
“By the way, Maxxy,” Tuilë suddenly cut in, hopping closer with an eager grin. “How about the spear? Any review you wanna give me?”
Crap! I forgot to use it. It wasn’t that the spear wasn’t incredible—on the contrary, I was awed by its quality the moment I received it from her. But the ninth scenario demanded total stealth. Using a long weapon in the middle of reconnaissance was a recipe for getting spotted, so I’d relied mostly on the Moonlight Dagger instead. Still… telling her I didn’t use it at all was basically emotional suicide.
I scratched my cheek, averting my eyes. “Er… mind giving me a couple more days? I want to redo the eighth scenario first so I can give you a proper review.”
Tuilë’s eyes widened, then sparkled like gemstones. “I see, I see! Okay then!” She pumped both fists excitedly. “Make sure to stab lots of monsters with it! Hard! Really hard!”
“…Right.”
Michelle chuckled softly into her hand. “She’s been waiting to hear your opinion since yesterday, you know.”
“Ha, I know that.” I nodded. Even back in the training hall, she had popped out of nowhere just to announce the spear was almost finished. Forgetting to use it made me feel just a bit guilty.
Boris slung an arm around my shoulder. “Lad, you’d better give that spear some actual use. Otherwise, she’ll pester you till the end of time.”
Lucian nodded sagely. “She will. I’ve seen it happen. I was the receiving end.”
Tuilë puffed her cheeks. “Oi! I don’t pester people… that much.”
I couldn’t help but chuckle at the exchange. The atmosphere was light, familiar, and oddly comforting after the tension of the ninth scenario. As we made our way back to District D, the five of us chatted about our respective scenario runs, joking about near misses, lucky breaks, and monsters that were more annoying than threatening. For a moment, it felt like we were just a group of friends sharing stories, not divine warriors marching toward life-or-death battles.
This kind of feeling wasn’t bad at all.
But in any case, there were only two days left until my duel with Kaela, and the tenth scenario loomed dangerously close. I should be prepared thoroughly for what was to come. This was not the time for relaxation.
***
Since the day in Fantasia wasn’t over yet, I headed straight for the training hall while the others were selling their loot, buying necessary supplies, or doing their own things.
“I need to get my body used to higher physical stats…” I muttered. It was wiser to spread out the free attribute points now rather than dump them all right before the duel so that my body could get used to it.
Opening my status screen, I saw a total of 308 free points. I allocated roughly a third of them across my stats—excluding Dexterity, since that one had already pushed past four hundred.
Strength: 388 → 400
Stamina: 332 → 370
Mind: 283 → 320
Magic Power: 334 → 360
Luck: 380 → 400
I could immediately feel the difference in my body, such as a noticeable surge of strength, sharper clarity in my senses, and a faint yet distinct increase in my mana reserves. Although it wasn’t the “I can punch through a steel wall now” kind of improvement, it was still something.
Upgrading these stats consumed 133 points. I planned to invest more on the day of the duel, but for now, this would serve as a solid foundation to train with. The reason I didn’t go further past four hundred for Strength and Dexterity was simple—any point above that threshold only granted half the improvement of the previous range, the same diminishing return that happened once I passed two hundred. Luck might be an exception to this, though, but I felt four hundred was enough at the moment.
Still, even a half-percent increase when above four hundred points wasn’t bad at all, especially since stat growth wasn’t linear. A small bump at this level could make a massive difference in battle.
Now it was time to make sure I had the skills to back up my stats.
As I was about to begin my training by swinging a wooden sword toward a dummy after consuming a vial of Elixir of Mana Concentrate, a familiar voice called out from behind. Turning around, I found that it was Erika.
“Rather than swinging at a dummy, just spar with me. Sharpening your fundamentals will benefit you more than repetitive drills,” she said as she approached, her twin katanas strapped neatly across her back.
Learning directly from someone like her—a sword genius whose technique far surpassed mine—was too good an opportunity to refuse, so I agreed without hesitation. We stepped onto one of the vacant dueling cubes, though no mana barrier this time, just practice. She drew only one katana and motioned for me to attack first.
I obliged, stepping in with a swift forward slash. She parried with almost no effort, redirecting my blade so cleanly that it threw me slightly off balance. A soft tap from the flat of her sword landed against my buckler as she evaluated my stance.
“That shield again.” She narrowed her eyes.
“What about it?” I asked, raising my guard.
“It is a great choice if you’re still a beginner. But you won’t reach an expert level with the sword if you split your focus.” She tapped the buckler again with the end of her blade. “It’s better to drop the shield and focus on your weapon.”
“I see… Offense is the best defense, huh…”
“That, and your sword technique is clearly self-taught,” she added bluntly. She stepped forward and pressed again, forcing me to block. “When you divide your attention between blade, buckler, and magic, your form becomes inefficient.”
I clicked my tongue, but knew she was right. My shield mastery lagged far behind my spear and sword skills and hadn’t been improving as rapidly. Even worse, the buckler, despite sticking to my arm and being quite small, often got in the way whenever I tried to cast magic mid-combat. And considering its durability was close to breaking despite being unique-grade, it was becoming more of a liability.
Actually, the reason it was called a buckler at all, despite functioning more like an ordinary shield, was simply because its size was smaller than the standard. In this case, dropping it would free my stance and increase my mobility. If I needed defense, I could rely on magic—or just kill the enemy faster.
We exchanged a few more clashes, and Erika would correct my posture mid-swing with the flat of her blade. This improved my swordsmanship by leaps and bounds—much faster than anything I could achieve alone.
Intermediate Swordsmanship has leveled up.
Your Stamina has increased by 1.
“I must admit that you’re superior to me in overall combat power and a worthy rival for me, but you still need a lot of practice before you can learn and master the Saito family’s swordsmanship,” she said calmly.
Wait, since when did I agree to learn her family’s swordsmanship?
I didn’t get the chance to protest before she pounced at me again with her katana. This training continued for a couple more hours until she finally sheathed her blade and waved me off, already heading toward the exit of the cube for her next routine. I shook my head at her sudden departure while flexing my cramped shoulders. At least, Intermediate Swordsmanship leveled up again.
Intermediate Swordsmanship has leveled up.
Once she was gone, I changed my focus to magic training. It was one thing to refine my body, but the upcoming duel and the tenth scenario would absolutely require stronger defense. If I wanted to reduce my reliance on the buckler, I needed a substitute—preferably with magic. And there was one spell perfect for that.
“{Mana Shield}…” I muttered under my breath. “If I can get this working, it’ll compensate for dropping the buckler.”
The target practice area was mostly empty at this hour. I stepped into an unused corner, closed my eyes, and began circulating my mana. Manipulating mana was something I’d grown used to, but shaping it into a stable defensive plane or even a sphere was an entirely different challenge.
First, I visualized a thin, semi-transparent barrier forming in front of me. But nothing happened.
“Tch. Figures.”
Unlike simpler spells such as {Mana Arrow}, I couldn’t just visualize and let the mana do the rest; I had to know the spell before I could freely cast it. So, I tried again, this time drawing mana straight from my core and compressing it into a curved wall. It resisted, slipping through my control and scattering like vapor the instant I tried to hold it in place.
But I repeated the motion.
Again.
And again.
Each attempt drained a small chunk of MP, and within twenty minutes, sweat was running down my temples.
Calm… steady… don’t force the shape, I reminded myself inside my heart.
I inhaled deeply and let my mind settle. Instead of compressing the mana into place aggressively, I guided it gently, layering it thinly like stacking sheets of paper one on top of another.
This time, a faint shimmer appeared before me.
“—Yes!”
But the moment I reached out to stabilize it, the almost-formed barrier cracked like thin glass and shattered in a brittle noise.
“Almost…!”
Gritting my teeth, I tried again. Layer by layer, I coaxed the mana into a cohesive surface, forming a curved disc of translucent energy before me. Its surface trembled but did not break.
You have learned a spell: {Mana Shield}.
Your Magic Power has increased by 2.
{Mana Shield}
Rank: Uncommon
Mana Cost: 5 MP per second
Forms a defensive barrier of condensed mana that absorbs physical and magical damage based on the user’s Magic Power.
I tapped it lightly with my fist, and the barrier only rippled. A grin crept onto my face at the sight.
“Just perfect. With this, I only need to figure out how to shape it into a sphere so it can cover every angle,” I mused. “And if I combine Weapon Manifestation with Cryo Magic to create additional shields, my defense will double—no, at least triple!”
It was becoming clear that I wouldn’t be needing the buckler much longer.