Chapter 39: Advancing Magic Knowledge, Part 2

"It seems that I'm getting diminishing results. I should probably take some time to train my physical strength and endurance," he said to himself.

But first, he had to take a bath. It has been a while since he cleaned himself and he started to stink.

Although there was a part of the river redirected to flow near the city, it was not exactly pleasant to take a bath in icy water. After all, there was no concept of hot showers in this world.

Gerald went to the river and quickly jumped in, to clean himself. The water was almost freezing, as it originated in the mountains to the north, from eternal glaciers that slowly melted during the year.

"Brrr… I really hate cold. I wonder if I can increase the temperature…?" He tried to heat up the water around him with magic, however, the river was flowing too fast and all warm water around him was quickly replaced by the icy one.

He quickly rubbed his body all over and then washed his hair before jumping out. He was trembling from dead to toe. To heat up, he now tried to heat up the air around him. It worked much better because there was almost no wind.

"Aah," Gerald moaned, "This is such bliss. It's so nice and warm." The water quickly evaporated and he was just standing there on the riverbank, buck naked. Fortunately for him, he came to his senses and dressed up before anyone saw him.

Before returning to Geldern, he decided to take a walk in the countryside.

A few kilometers around the city walls, there was almost nothing except for a few trees. It was all a big pasture. A few animals were grazing on it, and there were a few fields, but that was about it.

Forest was way off in the distance. It all had its purpose. If an enemy was coming to attack, be it monsters or humans, the guards in the watchtowers would notice them long before they reached the city walls.

As he was walking on the grassland, Gerald decided it was time to try something new, "There's plenty of space here, I should probably try out some Wind magic. You never know when I might need it."

He already memorized all the spells that were in the Elemental Codex and the spells inside were plenty. Not all were useful for every occasion, though. Some were only useful in certain specific situations and they didn't really attract his attention.

Gerald mostly preferred a more balanced spell, useful in every situation. He was mostly just getting the feel for it. He could more easily adapt or change the spell later if he wanted.

The first spell he tried out was called 'Fist of Wind'. It was a relatively simple Wind spell. By gathering air around his fist, he could compress it down and then release it at will. It was only effective at close range, but it could easily knock a person of his feet.

Gerald concentrated and started preforming the spell, "Fist of Wind, ha!" he punched out with his fist and the compressed air around it erupted forward. With a loud 'Woosh' it blew the grass and leaves away, it felt really satisfying to do so.

"I like it! It can be a non-lethal attack. Or maybe it can even stop or reflect projectiles like arrows? Overall a good spell."

As time went on, Gerald tried out a few more spells and then decided to try and incorporate them into his own fighting style.

Years ago, when he was a young teenager, we trained in a few different martial arts for a while. It could not be said that he mastered them, but he definitely knew a few moves. Even with his extremely good memory, he couldn't recall every detail from half a decade ago.

Still, he made use of what he remembered and filled the gaps with his own moves. Adding a magic component, the newly created Frankenstein martial art became something in the world of its own.

Incorporating flame, wind, and stones, it became a force to be reckoned with. Gerald adapted the Fist of Wind spell, so now he could utilize it on his legs also. He became like a giant air cannon, blasting every living being away from himself.

Back to martial art; the general idea was to first burn the opponent with a Flame spell, then knock him back with a Fist of Wind and lastly, when the target was struggling to get up, shower him with Stone Bolts.

At least that was the plan. As for how useful or practical it would be, it was too early to tell.

As the light of day slowly waned, people were able to see quick bursts of light out in the grassy plains. It was Gerald sharpening his moves. He has been practicing for a few hours and he had to consume quite a few Mana Potions to be able to sustain himself. Once in a while he also had to meditate to speed up his Mana recovery.

After around five Mana Potions, he started to feel nauseous. It wasn't too bad, and that probably just meant he was at the limit of Mana Potion consumption. If he drank another one, he figured, he would probably throw up.

"Oh well…" Gerald sighed, "I had enough training for today anyway." He looked at the red sunset and quickly hurried back to the city. "I need to replenish my energy for tomorrow…and I should probably take Sera with me. I think it's time to test out my new abilities."

He threw his head back and laughed, "Tomorrow will definitely be an exciting day."