For a moment, we sat around and joked with each other about our circumstances. Takumi's stories about Elise, Juri's adventuring, and even me, speaking about the research I was doing into a new and improved way of using Mana. Though Takumi didn't say anything directly, he didn't seem surprised by anything we told him. It was a bit odd. It was as if Takumi was accustomed to the fantasy happenings of this world. Juri was surprised to see I could conjure up sophisticated Magic.
And then when it came to knowledge, Takumi seemed far more in the know than both of us combined.
I was curious as to why that was the case, but I couldn't make any guesses yet. Takumi truly was himself; there was no doubt about it. Despite the changes in his appearance and slight personality shifts, Takumi had all the mannerisms as he did back on Earth. So I didn't doubt his identity. But something definitely changed how he perceived things.
I wonder what.
" Well, it's nice to know we need to get stronger—but what exactly should we be doing? "
" What do you mean? "
I raised a brow—Takumi sounded genuinely confused for the first time by something I said.
" Standard training won't be enough for what's to come, I'm sure. Juri has a special Aura, and you're the Hero; for you two, training is probably more effective than for the average fighter. However, better than average isn't definitive. "
Takumi leaned forward and seemingly entered a period of restless thinking as he bounced his leg a bit, crossing and locking his fingers together over his knees.
" Well, Draesil—Haruo has an idea. "
Haruo had been the Celestial being that inhabited Juri's body and shared it with him. He had also been the one who brought the soul of Haruo from Earth into the body of Juri Zo in this world.
" What's the idea? "
" Haruo says you should look through dungeons for a 'Tome'. "
"Tome"? It sounded like something magical in nature. There were a few guesses I already had; however, I wanted to hear it from him in full before saying anything.
" Tomes are Magic holders that allow for quick storage of new Spells you learn, as well as all the information they contain. Uh... "
For a moment, it sounded like Juri went on autopilot, speaking in a manner totally unlike him with his usual tone.
" I guess...think of it like a status screen for your Magic, except it's in a book. "
" And how exactly will this make me stronger? "
" According to Haruo, Tomes help boost the efficiency of Mages twofold, and the dungeon that it's contained inside is a perfect training ground for a Mage. "
Thinking of it that way, with my Mana Optimization Formula and a Tome, I could cast higher-tier Spells with minimal drain. Juri and Haruo ended up being more helpful than I thought. Takumi had been less surprised and aware when Juri spoke about the Tome than when I asked him my question initially.
" How about you, Takumi? I know you can use Magic. Do you have any tips for me? "
Takumi snapped to my question, looking up quickly.
" Huh-! Right—okay, well here's the deal. As I see it, you need to be able to cast mid-tier Spells with no strain on your Mana reserves. I have an idea but... "
He looked at me and looked me up and down, almost as if sizing me up. I would've probably felt offended if I were any normal person and Takumi wasn't a close friend. Was he gauging how capable I was of handling his idea? For some reason, deep inside me, that wounded a bit of pride I harbored. As if he were looking down on my power.
" Whatever you're thinking—I can handle it. "
" You're right, you're smarter than Juri and me. Listen, this will be very risky; however, I think you should seek out a wyvern. "
" A wyvern? "
Juri leaned forward after inquiring what a wyvern was. He seemed a bit excited, though; you could see the sweat coming down the side of his face as he asked.
" A wyvern is a subspecies of Dragons. They're filled to the brim with Mana; however, they have no working means or brain power to control their nervous system to use their Mana to perform Magic. This means they simply store up and collect Mana, being packed dense with it. "
" So—what makes them so dangerous, you're worried? "
I asked while crossing my arms.
" They have immense physical strength bolstered by the thick amounts of Mana coursing through their muscles. Even one attack could blast through Aura defenses. You, not being able to use Aura, could... "
" Die? Likely, but it won't happen. I'm sure just fighting it will be training in and of itself—but there must be more, correct? "
" If you beat it— "
" When! When he beats it! "
Juri cut him off, sticking up for my capabilities. I appreciated the sentiment.
" Right...When you beat it, you'll have to consume all of its major organs. Every single one. Mana, as I'm sure you've realized by now, flows through your nervous system as a Self-Caster. As wyverns aren't full blooded Arcane Creatures like the Dragons, there will be a bit of time before their core decays. In that time, you need to consume every bit of densely packed Mana coursing through their nerves. "
So I have to get super beast-like and eat every bit of them, huh?
" Heart, liver, lungs, and their flesh? "
" Something like that—yeah. "
" Alright...Kill a wyvern, eat its organs, get stronger. "
" Did I forget to mention you can't cook it? "
Right, I can't cook it. Yeah—
" He can't cook it?! "
Juri spoke in outrage before even I could.
" That's absurd, Takumi. How am I supposed to eat meat raw? "
" Calm down! Thanks to your body composition, you won't die from eating raw meat...I just bet it would be extremely disgusting— "
Takumi wretched, putting his hand over his mouth, and seemed to get extremely pale. It was as if he knew what it was like personally. How? That was the question I asked myself consistently during this whole conversation. He was hiding something important, I could just feel it. But, you know, I didn't want to pry just yet. Even though Takumi was saying some weird stuff, he was still trying to help me.
Juri and Takumi both were.
I leaned back on the couch and looked up at the ceiling, feeling a calming wave wash over me. I felt at peace here with these two.
" Eating a wyvern raw, huh? That's almost as bad as eating Juri's takoyaki. "
" I-it wasn't that bad! R-Right, Takumi? "
Takumi looked off to the side.
Haruo on Earth had served us food just once. It was a homemade Takoyaki recipe on a day when Ryota had been flat broke and Takumi couldn't cover for him. I wasn't the sort to carry money on me for more than necessities, so Haruo had the bright idea to feed us at his place. His house was empty of people but full of ingredients in the fridge. Seeing such a stacked fridge and pantry made us optimistic—hoping Haruo was a savant in the kitchen.
However, we soon learned all Haruo could prepare were complete kitchen travesties wrapped up neatly. Everything Haruo cooked looked great, but tasted terrible. It was almost instant food poisoning eating those takoyaki he served.
" Come on, guys! "
I laughed softly.
" Draesil's laughing— "
They both paused their chatter and looked at me. Juri leaned forward, putting his hands down on the coffee table in his attempt to get closer to my face, while Takumi seemed stunned.
" What—I can laugh too, you know. "
" Huh. I guess you can! "
. . .
Takumi and Juri both gave me ideas on how to boost my capability and strength in Magic. However, I still wondered what those two would do to train.
" So—what's the plan for you? "
" To get stronger? Well, Juri and I will spar for a week. Both of us have great healing thanks to our Aura's abundance. After that week is up, I'll have Juri master his true fighting style. "
" 'True fighting style'? What's that about? "
Juri moved toward Takumi, a bit excited but also blatantly confused and curious.
" Well, you don't have a normal Aura. Most people only have a colored Aura present when using a weapon they're familiar with—one that feels the most natural in their hands or on their body. However, you have the Aura of the world. Your Aura is always colored, and therefore, no one weapon will make your Aura more efficient, as you have affinity with all weapons. "
" Really? Doesn't that make me like...some super cool weapon master? "
" Simple rule, Juri. Any creature that tries to master multiple things will end up mastering none of them. Brains work on a singular track—you'd need multi-parallel processing to master more than one weapon to its peak. "
I chimed in, realizing what Takumi was getting at.
" That's right—the only way for you to get much better as a fighter is if you find the one style that resonates with you the most. When you find that— "
" I'll be much stronger! "
Takumi nodded. It made sense. If Juri could find the style that suited him best, he'd be able to draw out way more power in his attacks. With Takumi's guidance and training, Juri could become a force to worry about. After all, I could already gauge just from his stories about adventuring that his growth rate was immense. I silently nodded to myself, thinking about all of our goals. Takumi and Juri will train to find Juri's true style, and I'm going to search for a tome and wyvern.
" I guess I should address the big delinquent elephant in the room—Takumi. Where's Ryota? I know you know. "
Our friend didn't say a word.
" Takumi...You know where he is? "
Juri seemed not to have yet pieced that together, straightening up his posture as he asked.
" ...Yeah...I know where he is. "
It was as if he was choking on his words, unable to say anything further. Was he worried about saying something we couldn't handle? Or maybe it was too big to just simply say out loud. Based on how Takumi wanted us to get stronger and become more reliable—
* STAND—GRAB—PLACE *
Grabbing the paper from a nearby desk, I placed it down in front of Takumi with a pen. I leaned forward, locking my fingers together, waiting.
" Write it down. That way, it's our choice to read it and find out whenever we think we're ready. And, in the event anyone could be listening, it's not stated out loud. "
It was a makeshift solution to the potential worries the Hero sitting in front of us might have. However, there was no concrete way of knowing what he would tell us. Or if he would even agree to do so just yet. Maybe even just knowing would get us in danger. Well, not like I cared. No matter what he said or wrote, I'd listen and be ready for it. I was new to feeling complex emotions about things, but one thing's for sure. In this new life, I won't let anything happen to things I care about.
" Alright. "
* WRITE—SLIDE *
Takumi finished and slid the paper forward, leaving Juri and me to read it.
" Holy shit... "
Neither Juri nor I hesitated. We both immediately went to read the paper, trying to make sense of what he wrote. Juri didn't fully grasp what he had written. Though judging by his face, that title certainly set off some alarms in his brain. However, I fully understood. Where Ryota had been...was way too dangerous for us to just burst into. It was damn near impossible under normal circumstances.
I didn't know how he ended up there, and I sure didn't know how we'd get there. But according to what Takumi wrote, it seems like Ryota is in the "Demon Territory".
CHAPTER 37 END