章 2: II - Neso

Morning came. To my relief, all my limbs are still intact. Good!

Were those monsters sleeping during the night, or was it by pure luck that I wasn't attacked?

I returned to where I had fought the snake and it's still there. I doubted I could still use its meat as food since it had been sitting there for almost a day, so I decided to skin it.

Checking on the place where I had last seen the giant boar, I found it still there, but it looked like it was on its last breaths.

"I'm sorry giant boar but this is it for you. Thank you for your life; your flesh will be my nourishment, I will make it as quick and painless as I possibly can."

I took out my knife and ended its life.

I dismantled the boar, taking its hide and some of its meat back to camp.

As I prepared for lunch, I heard a soft whisper of a young woman.

"Hey.."

Flustered, I replied: "W-who's there?"

Then, a beautiful lady emerged from the woods and slowly walked towards me. She had long green hair and was wearing some sort of medieval maidservant clothes in green.

"My name is Neso, I am the goddess of the islands."

Goddess?! Do deities of this world walk casually among mortals here? Unsure of what to do, I instinctively knelt, bowed my head, and stretched my arm towards her.

"Will you marry me?"

…

Crap! I know I'm single and in my thirties but this is not the right time brain!!

The goddess Neso was taken by surprise and left speechless.

"Uhh..ehh.."

"I deeply apologize to the goddess, a mere mortal like me asking for your hand. Please spare this fool's life; I swear it will not happen again!"

After gaining her composure, the goddess Neso replied: "No worries, I'll let it slide this time Egil."

"Thank you, Goddess. I'm sorry but you said that you are the goddess of the islands, does that mean there are more deities aside from you?"

"That is correct. There are a lot more gods and demigods that exist in this world compared to yours."

"Let's get back to why I came here, I don't have much time, so please listen carefully."

I gulped and focused all my attention on her, intent on heeding and understanding all that she was about to say.

"I saw how you defeated the Anakon Snake yesterday despite being new to this world and having no knowledge about mana, but somehow you were able to release a Mana Burst to kill that beast."

Mana burst? Does this world have mana?

Now that I think about it, there's no way I would've killed that snake without at least the power of my world's tank, and that was what I was thinking during that time. Could it be..?

"Goddess, I know that you are aware that from where I came from, I believe magic and mana do not exist. Was it due to this knife?"

I took out the knife on my waist and showed it to her. Have I used up all my lifetime's luck to find a legendary knife?

"I'm sorry but it's just an ordinary knife."

"Wait, what?!"

"Unfortunately, yes. It was from the shipwreck you found yesterday, right? That ship was to deliver weapons to another country but was unlucky and got swept by a storm. A lot of those products are in the seabed and that knife just found its way to the shore."

Seeing me disappointed, she continued talking.

"It's one of the gifts that she bestowed upon you before you were sent here. Mana Arts."

"You have the mastery of mana manipulation, you have complete control of how the mana reacts to your body."

Just as I was about to ask her something, she interrupted and said:

"I'm sorry Egil, time's up. I will visit you again in a week."

"What, why?"

As I said those words, she quickly faded in front of my eyes and turned into specks of green energy. Does this world have limits to deities or was there another reason she hurriedly went away?

Mana arts, huh? I guess I'll have to wait a week to ask her about it.

After finishing my lunch, I processed the snakeskin and the boar's hide, then returned to the boar's carcass to dismantle it while deeply contemplating what the goddess had revealed.

Another day passed, and I found myself still pondering about the Mana Arts the goddess had mentioned.

"How do they do it in anime and manga?"

I placed my hand in front of me, attempting to recall the feeling I had when fighting that snake.

Slowly, little balls of energy began swirling around my palm, creating a golden ball of light!

"Wow, I can use magic!"

"Wait, how do I turn it off?"

The small mass, which had started the size of a tennis ball, began to grow bigger and heavier; it was almost the size of a ZORB!

I didn't know what to do, so I swung violently in every direction, hoping it would stop, and then I shouted:

"Go away!"

The ball of energy flew towards the direction of the ocean and vanished from my sight in an instant.

Let's forget something like this happened.

A few more days passed.

I'm starting to run out of food. I can't believe I devoured that huge boar's meat so quickly, especially after I created that huge ball of disaster. Good thing I wasn't slacking off in the past days and made something to help me with hunting. Bow and arrows!

It wasn't easy. Wood from this forest is as hard as iron. I had to wander around the forest to find the most suitable branch for the bow and painstakingly carve it along with the arrows. I didn't need any arrow tips because of the wood's property and used pine needles for fletching. I used boar sinew to create a bowstring.

Speaking of sinew, I've made a lot of stuff thanks to this primitive technology. I've made a pair of shoes, a bag, a belt, and a sheath for my knife using leather, snakeskin, and the sinew for the stitching.

Time to hunt!

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