บท 29: Recollection
In the evening, I recalled my fight. I lacked the ability to sense the exact location of enemies a bit far away from me during battle, but that can be covered when I grasp mana zone.
What I currently need to do is increase my speed of production of red flames. Its power is impressive, but it will be of no use if it can't be used properly in battle.
I have been using my dagger for a long time, and I don't want it to break as it was a gift from my sister, so I use daggers made from hardened mana for general battles. I have decided to improve my mana hardening to enhance its sharpness. Moreover, it's time for me to start making wings of solidified mana. They can be used for flying more comfortably and can be used in battle as both offense and defense.
For the next two days, I practiced making mana daggers of different shapes, sizes, and sharpness until Yami called everyone.
"The Wizard King was impressed by our team's last mission and finally awarded us three stars for our contribution after a long time," Yami said, holding a star.
"YAY!" shouted everyone with excitement. Although we all laze around a lot, getting a formal day off rather than having a mission at the back of our heads was a different feeling.
He put the star on the wall which had small stars decorated, and the star was absorbed into it. "With this, we have negative 35 stars."
"How much damage do they even do to get negative stars?!" I thought.
"You know what that means? NO WORK TODAY, ENJOY YOURSELVES!" said Yami while setting out, maybe to gamble again.
"Wait for me, Captain!" shouted Magna as he followed Yami. As always, Finral opened the portal for them to teleport. Sigh! When will they learn not to waste money?
Finral had something to do in the capital, so I asked him to buy me a communication device from the Magic Knights headquarters. It costs 50k Yuls for the Magic Knights while almost 150k for normal people. Still, 50k was almost 10 times my income, but I had a lot of money saved over the years, so it was affordable. If you say that I am contradicting my word about wasting money, a communication device is not a waste of money.
"So, Vanessa ne-san, where is my reward?" I asked Vanessa. I somewhat already knew what she would bring.
"Fufu. I thought you forgot about it. Don't worry, I have it ready. Wait a minute, I will bring it," she said before going towards her room. After some time, she returned with a bottle.
"This is the most expensive wine I have. I haven't even opened it yet. I am giving you the first opportunity to taste it," she said.
Everyone had something they liked a lot for which they would forget everything. For example, Charmy's food, for Vanessa, it was her wine.
I tasted the wine, and it was really the best wine I had ever tasted.
"Seems like you liked it," she said while filling a glass for herself.
"Don't drink too much, or you would waste your entire day," I suggested, as when she starts drinking, she keeps on drinking and ends up sleeping the entire day.
I went to my room and brought a book and showed it to Charmy. It contained different cooking recipes I collected from the towns and villages I visited.
"For me?" asked a surprised Charmy.
"Yes."
Charmy was very happy getting the recipe book and immediately started cooking. The rest of the Black Bulls started helping her to make the work faster. As the Black Bulls base is in the middle of a big forest, we have a lot of space for various things. Charmy had planted a lot of different vegetables by clearing trees around the area. We plucked the required vegetables and started chopping them.
And damn, her cotton magic is useful. It takes the already tasty food to a whole new level. I had become a fan of her cooking when I ate her food for the first time. After that, I asked her to recreate some of the dishes I remember from my previous life.
Her food can replenish mana and stamina by a lot. That means she won't run out of mana and energy as long as she keeps eating.
But only I know that behind that fluffy sheep that makes delicious food is a dangerous wolf ready to devour everything around.
While we were eating, tears started dropping from the eyes of Luck. "Where did you get this recipe from?" he asked.
"The town of Narinn."
"This is the dish my mother often used to make in my childhood… I thought after her passing I would never be able to taste it again… thank you both for making this dish for me… thank you…"
"Don't mention it… we are always here for you," I said.
"Although you are not Marie, I would always be there for you," said Gauche.
Like Luck, Gauche also had a hard childhood without parents, so he knows his pain. Although Luck never mentioned it, we all knew his story from Yami or Magna. Seeing Luck, who always smiles, now shedding tears broke our hearts.
We gave Luck some space to compose himself and encouraged him.
After eating a lot, I carried a plate of food throughout the base and finally found a room after searching for some time. Inside the room laid a man on a bed. Beside him was the robe of the Black Bulls.
"Henry-senpai, I brought you some food."
"Ah… Julian-kun… thank you… very… much," said Henry, who was resting on a bed with long and messy hair reaching his legs.
I kept the food near his bed and sat beside him. He started absorbing my mana to move and sit properly.
I had knowledge of the story till the end of the elf saga, so I knew the Black Bulls base was the house of a person who was cursed. He was the son of a noble who was abandoned after being cursed.
I tried finding the reason a person can get cursed, but there is no mention in any books. Even there is no information about dwarves, it is only known that they were a race present once in the past, like the elves.
Henry, who is the original owner of the base, can control the base to repair and rearrange the rooms or make the base a giant bull-type structure to fight.
His body is so frail that he cannot move from his bed without taking mana from others. He was cursed during his childhood, which made his body only survive by absorbing others' mana.
Although nobody knows about him except Yami and me, there is always someone who stays in the base so Henry keeps getting mana.
I met Henry by chance a few years back when I first came to the base. I didn't have the control I have now, so he completely emptied all my mana reserves.
"Today our squad received stars after a long time, so Captain gave us some free time."
I made some small talk and gave him half of my mana reserves and went to sleep in my room. If someday I learn to burn away curses with my flames, I will surely dispel his curse.
The next few days, I spent training, sparring, and reading books in the library. I sometimes counseled Luck about trusting his companions more so that he doesn't lose himself. I know he still has his trauma about his mother's death, so I always encourage him.
Luck Voltia was a child between a commoner and a noble. His mother was a commoner of Yvon village in the common realm who married into the noble house. Shortly after Luck was born, he and his mother were abandoned. Luck was very fond of his mother's smile, so much so that he was ready to do anything for her. She always wanted him to be tough for his better future, and when she found that he was strong and inherited his father's mana reserves, she encouraged him more to win.
That made him a battle maniac who always liked to fight while smiling. But everything went downhill when his mother died of illness. He was completely broken after his mother's death and forgot to feel every emotion. So broken that he didn't even realize he was smiling at his mother's grave, repeating, "I will never stop smiling for you, mother… I will keep winning for you."
Later, he participated in the Magic Knights exam and almost got disqualified for nearly killing the opposite candidate. He was rejected by every squad except Yami, who gave him a family.
Here he met Magna, who was his first true friend he trusted. Slowly, he started feeling emotions after experiencing the feeling of a family but still less than a normal person.
As his squad member, it was one of my responsibilities to help him.
I heard Gordon's story too. His family specializes in curses and poison and are often hired for unethical works. Gordon couldn't bring himself to harm innocent people, so he left his home in search of what he truly wanted and met Yami, who offered him to join his squad.
Almost everyone here has a backstory; abandoned, neglected, hated, etc. Yami provided all of them a place they can call home and family.
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