บท 17: Goblin Has Style
In the deepest parts of the living quarters Jellal sits cross legged on the ground with the back of his hands resting gently on his knees, his index finger and thumb lightly pressed together. Keeping his eyes closed he reached out with his senses to the mana in the surroundings. Locking onto wind mana, which he has the most affinity with, he begins to make his mana resonate with it before forming proper magic.
Immediately after finishing forming the magic he forcibly scatters the mana into the surroundings. When the mana has scattered and he has fully stopped resonating he takes a deep breath and starts the process over again.
Each time he resonates with the wind mana in the air he forms magic just a little bit faster. Even though the difference in the amount of time it takes is miniscule such seemingly insignificant improvements add up over time. If things go as he hopes and he's able to constantly improve, then eventually he'll be able to reach the point where he can do it as if it were second nature.
Of course he didn't just randomly pick a type of mana to practice with. Since his affinity for wind is the best it will naturally be the easiest and fastest to improve which is what he wants. Before he starts messing around with a bunch of different types of mana he wants to reach a high level of proficiency in his most natural element so he'll be able to fight properly if he ends up throwing down with an enemy that has partially fused mana.
It only takes a few minutes for him to realize he had yet to solve one major issue, his mana capacity. Even though he's only forming magic and dispersing mana the amount of mana he burns through in the process is nothing to laugh at. Since he hadn't used magic much he didn't put too much thought into his own mana capacity but such negligence ended up coming back to bite him.
After giving it some thought he decides to look at it from another perspective. Rather than worrying over mana capacity isn't it better to use his current low reservoir of mana as motivation to increase the efficiency with which he uses mana? Nodding his head he makes a mental note to actually pay attention to the amount of mana he uses instead of using it all wantonly like he had been.
In the dining hall Beth and Sia are working hard to finish dismantling the shadow wolf as quickly as possible. Kira, on the other hand, is lounging around with nothing to do. It had been a while since Jellal headed to the living quarters which is pretty much empty at this point. Even though she had managed to suppress her curiosity for a while, she still couldn't help but wonder what he's doing all by himself back there.
Nervous about going back there alone she checked to see if her fellow slackers wanted to join her expedition. Vincent immediately rejected without a second thought, convinced he would end up being tricked into acting as the little overlord's amusement again if he went along with her. Meredith on the other hand was happily running errands for the pair that's taking care of the shadow wolf, such as helping hold the body still or washing knives, so she declined as well.
With no one volunteering to go with her she was left to either wallow in her curiosity or to man up and go alone. In the end she couldn't resist the urge to find out what he was doing that required him to go off on his own like that.
Clenching her fist she walked through the hallway. Perhaps due to being slightly on edge she felt that her footsteps sounded especially loud as she moved deeper into the living quarters. From up ahead she could hear wind billowing despite there only being a dead end at the end of the tunnel. She swallowed her saliva as she nervously made her way around the final bend.
At the depths of the living quarters Jellal had long since noticed Kira approaching. He couldn't care less if she wanted to see what he was doing, but doing nothing other than training was getting bland so he decided it was the perfect time for a change of pace.
Gathering wind mana from the surroundings he quickly started forming a small version of a large scale magic he had envisioned. First he formed a tornado around himself. From there he expanded it out until it was about one and a half meters wide, giving him a little extra space to move about if he wanted to. Next he formed four thinner tornadoes equidistant from each while using the large tornado at the center. The large tornado spun clockwise pulling the smaller tornados along with it. He even made sure the small tornadoes were spinning in the opposite direction of the large one they rotated around so the point of contact between them would be like a grinder. For his finishing touch he controlled the wind magic so he would hover in the center of the large tornado.
In reality, having himself float in the middle of the magic was an unnecessary addition that only served to make it more stylish. Rather than being practical, sometimes it's better to have a visual impact to intimidate potential enemies … is the excuse he made up to justify making himself hover just because he thought it looked cool.
When Kira finally found where Jellal was training she couldn't believe her eyes. In front of her was a cluster of tornadoes that seemed like they would be able to wipe out anything that came into contact with it. When Jellal had ridiculed her prowess in magic her pride stopped her from taking anything he said seriously, but now that she could see the difference in ability right before her eyes she was rendered speechless.
Trying to think of a way to break the ice she stood there silently. It was at that moment that Jellal added the final touches onto his performance.
He let the large tornado thin out slightly so his silhouette would be visible from the outside. With the extra mana he had been focusing on gathering he laced the tornado with lightning along with occasionally having lightning strike around the large tornado as an accent. The last thing he did to complete his stylish magic was to focus mana on his eyes so they would glow when he opened them.
From the outside Kira felt her hair stand on end when the lightning started intertwining itself with the tornado. Seeing Jellal's silhouette in the middle of the twister she started wondering if she had made a mistake coming to see what he was doing. When he finally opened his eyes the lightning strikes that accompanied it made it seem as if some ancient beast had been awakened from its slumber. The glowing eyes seemed to pass through the tornado and look into her soul causing her to stumble backwards and fall on her butt.
The maniacal laughter coming from inside the magic didn't ease her trembling as she sat there petrified, unable to even plead for mercy.
Seeing the state she was in Jellal backed off on the magic and slowly let the tornadoes dissipate one by one until he was left looking lonesome as he hovered above the ground. Gradually he lowered to the ground while letting his cape flutter in the wind for extra style points. Walking over to the dazed Kira he uncharacteristically offered her a hand to help her up.
[So, what did you need?]
It took asking three times before she finally snapped out of it. Even though it was a simple question she had no idea how to respond. Originally she had come out of curiosity but after seeing the way he used magic she wanted to learn how to use magic in the same way. Yet her pride wouldn't allow her to ask a goblin to teach her how to properly use magic, especially when she was technically his captive. Unable to find any words she was left repeatedly opening and closing her mouth doing her best fish impersonation.
Having just used a substantial amount of mana for his little stunt he wanted to go rest but suddenly thought of a good idea. Among the conspicuous amount of treasure the bandits had managed to scrape together he distinctly remembers seeing a number of bottles containing what he could only assume to be potions of some sort. Even if he didn't know what they were one of his subordinates would certainly be able to tell him what most of them do.
[Since you're free right now why don't we take a little walk, kekeke?]
Before she had a chance to reply he had already started walking away. She hurriedly chased after him, matching his pace when she had caught up. An awkward silence hung in the air as the two of them inched ever closer to the dining hall.
The uncomfortable atmosphere between the two continued all the way until they finally reached the treasure room. Seeing where the so called walk had brought them Kira was inwardly surprised since she knew how miserly Jellal had a tendency to be.
Jellal led her to the back corner of the room where the potions and other items he deemed worth looking into were located. A single crate stood at the center of the pile while numerous bags were stacked on top of and around it. The bags had an unknown number of potions as well as other material hidden within waiting for someone to come along and let them see the light of day.
[Now that we're here your job will be to tell me about these items. Of course everything you see here stays here, including your memory of what you've seen. You won't have any problem with that, right?]
After making sure she knew the ground rules he took a step back to allow her space to properly inspect the items. It took nearly half an hour to get through all the items. When it came to learning the basic information of the various items it actually didn't take as long as he had originally thought it would. The sheer number of items spread amongst the bags was what took a considerable chunk of the total time as it took what felt like forever just for them to sift through all of them.
When they finished going through the items Jellal "politely" reminded Kira not to talk about what items she had seen hidden in the treasure room. The cold sweat running down her back told her that she didn't have a choice in the matter so she made sure to reiterate over and over again that she didn't have loose lips.
By the time they returned to the dining hall Beth and Sia had managed to finish dismantling the shadow wolf. Even its bones had value if they could find the right person to buy them so they kept every part of the wolf except its internal organs. Apparently it's even possible to cook the innards if you use the right method, but since none of them had any clue about something so obscure they easily came to a consensus to discard them.
Jellal gave their work a once over before promptly snatching the wolf's lower jaw. Compared to a normal wolf's jaw it was nearly twice the size, perfect for making into a weapon. To start things off he removed the teeth at the front of the jaw. Using a throwing knife along with some wind magic he cut the bone in half before filing down the hooked ends until they were straight as an arrow.
Since he was feeling a bit hungry he asked his subordinates to make a light lunch. While waiting for it to be prepared he took out the remaining furs from the animals he had hunted previously. Once again using the combination of wind magic and a throwing knife he shaved away the hair on the furs before using them to make an improvised scabbards.
Since he's planning on wearing one of the new, larger saws on his hip he looked through the exorbitant amount of clothing the bandits had so kindly gifted him for a sword belt.
In the end he couldn't find anything suitable to hold his saw so he was forced rig up something himself. Rather than going through the trouble of making something, he decided to use a long piece of cloth that could be wrapped around his waist multiple time. He figured if he could slide the saw between the layers and maybe wrap some of the excess cloth around it then it should be usable until he can find a suitable replacement.
Due to taking over the bandit's hideout he had amassed a nice fortune. Unfortunately to use his money he would need to somehow manage to sneak into a city without being noticed. Even if he got in he would still need a disguise since no one in their right mind would do business with a goblin.
If he managed to actually get into a town he would be able to get a proper scabbard for his saw. Then after that he could get a professionally belt handcrafted to hold his saw along with a properly stylish outfit the suits a suave guy like him.
With such thoughts in mind he secretly decided he would someday find a good costume so he could masquerade as a human and sneak into town so he could properly equip himself. Of course while he was there he would stop by the adventurers' guild so he could get some identification so he won't have to go through the trouble of sneaking in and could walk through the gates like a normal person.
Even though he had made up his mind to one day go to town he knew he wouldn't commence his plan for the time being. Before he infiltrates human society he would need to be strong enough to escape if things went south.
'I may be pretty strong but taking on an entire city is a tall order, even for a superior being such as myself. To do something like that I'll need a bit of preparation time. When my ability to resonate with wind mana reaches an acceptable level I'll definitely be able to escape if nothing else.'
As he was contemplating how to legit fight a city Meredith came over to tell him that lunch was ready. Pushing his thoughts of conquering a city by himself to the back of his mind, he joined her at a table with the rest of his subordinates. Looking at the group eating together like a happy family his ego came out to spoil the mood. Even though it was unintentional his thoughts leaked out for everyone to hear.
[I need a throne! How can a superior being such as myself sit together with mere subordinates when I'm eating? I'll definitely have to look into it in the future.]
The rest of the people at the table didn't know how to react when his ego reared its ugly head. If their eyes could speak they would definitely be questioning his mental health. The only one who didn't react to his comment was Meredith who seemed to be wholeheartedly focused on the food in front of her.
The atmosphere soon returned to normal as they continued on with their meal. When Jellal finished eating he got up from the table so he could get back to his training. However, before he had a chance to leave Beth took the initiative to speak with him in a quiet, nervous sounding voice.
[Umm, shouldn't we let the nearest town know there was a shadow wolf here?]
[Hmm? Why would I need to do that? It's not my problem.]
[Bu-but there could be others and they could attack the people living there.]
[So you want me to go to town and warn them they might get attacked? I don't see any problem that could arise do to that. Humans and goblins have always been like next of kin after all, it's not like they would try to kill me on site or anything. Or do you want me to release one of the prisoners and let them tell the people in town about me and this hideout so they can send someone over for a friendly visit.]
[I-but I – we should- I didn't mean …]
The longer the conversation went on the quieter her voice got and the more she started to panic. By the end of it she couldn't even form a proper sentence. Jellal appraised her with his eyes. Dealing with such a kind hearted person he could only sigh.
[Basically I just need to make sure someone from town knows there was a shadow wolf in the area right?]
Leaving those words behind, he left the room. Returning to the treasure room he grabbed a small vile of glowing blue liquid and put it in one of his belt's pouches. The liquid was a more vivid blue than the ocean yet at the same time crystal clear to the point of being virtually transparent. That small amount of liquid is able to stimulate a person's body to briskly produce mana for an extremely short amount of time allowing them to quickly recover the mana they'd used in a pinch.
After picking up a mana potion to bring with him for emergency use he went back to the dining hall. From the shadow wolf's remains he takes the pelt, skull, and magic stone. From the outside it looks like he shoved them into his backpack but in reality they went into the item bag which is hidden within.
[I'll have to think of a way to have you compensate me later. Regardless it shouldn't take long to find someone and secretly pass them the evidence that a shadow wolf was in the area. Sia and Kira will be in charge of defending this place while I'm away. … If there's an emergency you can use the items in the treasure room, but only if it's an emergency.]
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