章節 7: Manual Hunting
After several hours of insistence and check-ups, Lami was discharged. Even the doctors couldn't explain what had happened to his body.
His head was throbbing from the avalanche of questions.
Especially of those regarding Wills.
Wills were born from the deepest, rawest desires, taking various forms depending on their nature.
They could manifest physically, enhance a person's abilities, or do something entirely different and otherwordly.
Some could even bend reality.
The strength and form of a Will were dependent on the purity and intensity of the emotions behind the desire; worldly desires were out of the equation.
Since Wills were born from a person's desires, the concept of them being transferable was unheard of.
Although not extremely rare, awakening a Will was known to be difficult.
Lami had attempted various methods to trigger it, but nothing worked, so he eventually stopped trying.
Now it was time to get himself a Manual, even a basic one, and start with the first steps.
Manuals were expensive, but he needed to learn new battle-arts and improve his swordsmanship.
Having decided on his approach, Lami made his way to the Manual store.
Though Lami didn't fully understand why he needed to learn swordsmanship, he decided to trust his mother.
It took him around 20 minutes to reach his destination.
[Emmanuel's Manual Store]
Lami felt like letting out a slight chuckle.
Ring!
As Lami opened the door, a bell chimed, notifying the business workers.
"Welcome to Emmanuel's Manual Store."
A melodic, sweet voice made its way to Lami's ears.
The owner of the voice was a young elf. Her long, pink-blonde hair was tightly tied into a ponytail, revealing her long, pointy ears.
Her green eyes shone like emeralds. She was charming, but her small stature made her appear 'cute.'
Although she was beautiful, Lami wasn't fazed. He had seen quite the share of beautiful people.
"Are you Emmanuel?" Lami asked.
The girl's sweet face twitched for a split second, but she regained her composure immediately.
"...No, sir, I am only working as a part-timer."
"Oh, I see." Lami lingered for a while, observing the shelves. "I am looking for a swordsmanship Manual. My budget is around 6,000 Crowns, so I guess Tier-1 to 2 ones."
"...Sure, follow me."
After spotting a heavy door behind the counter, which likely led to the higher-ranked Manual section, Lami followed the girl as she guided him to the section for lower-tier swordsmanship Manuals.
Manuals were ranked from Tier 1 to Tier 9; unlike Mana Cores, there was no 10th tier.
The store wasn't large, and there were no other customers. However, everything was arranged exquisitely, with each item in perfect order.
The space had a modern look, brightly illuminated, with a crisp, refreshing atmosphere. Lami couldn't help but wonder why there were no other customers.
The girl stopped in front of the lower-rank swordsmanship section.
"Some Manuals are for specific weapon types, so please make sure you don't get the wrong one. Otherwise, the art you learn might not work effectively as intended. Also, note that we don't accept any refunds."
After explaining everything, the girl left Lami to his own devices.
'Damn expensive. 3,000 for Tier-1 Manuals? What are they smoking?'
Lami had enough money for two Tier-1 Manuals, but he couldn't find anything useful, so he decided to look for Tier-2 ones.
"Let's see what we got here. For Greatsword users? Useless. For elemental swordsmen? Also useless…"
"…Useless."
"Meh."
".. What even is this?"
…
Lami searched almost the whole section but unfortunately had no luck.
"Come on. Anything useful, please."
He was getting frustrated. Not finding anything useful wasn't part of his plans. He cleaned up the mess he created and went to the next and last shelf.
"Better be here."
The first three were useless again, but the fourth one was interesting.
"Parrying. Might do if I don't find anything else."
Lami didn't want to waste his money on something that wouldn't be much help to him.
He had to learn the basics of swordsmanship as well; losing his precious money on something useless wasn't a good idea.
He didn't even know why he had to learn swordsmanship. His skill set was clearly focused on his illusions, which were of [Mental] type.
He couldn't deal any type of physical damage.
"Still nothing," Lami said while digging his way through the mess he created. There weren't many Manuals left on the shelf.
He picked up the last three Manuals. The first one was called 'Swift Strike,' which focused on delivering the most efficient strike. Lami started reading its description:
"Refine the basics of your swordsmanship. Learn the art of killing."
Breaking old habits was usually harder than learning new things. With this in mind, Lami put it aside and decided to check the last two Manuals.
The first one was for a type of sword he didn't know.
"Bastard sword, what kind of name is that?"
Lami checked the last Manual with a weird look on his face, but shortly after his features started showing a genuine interest.
"This one is good as well. …Tailwind; A surge of mana propels the user forward in a blur."
He picked up Tailwind and Swift Strike while leaving Parrying behind. Sitting down in the corner, Lami started pondering which one to choose.
"Tailwind can help me close the gap in a split second, but I lack the fundamentals to come on top of the next exchange. I can probably create something similar as a Spell as well. All I need is good mana control."
Lami put the Tailwind back onto the shelf.
He had made his choice.
"I need to start from the beginning and work my way up. Swift Strike can help me with the basics," Lami muttered as he walked toward the girl to pay. "And I'm not going to lie, the art of killing sounds intriguing."
"What sounds intriguing?"
Lami looked at the source of the sweet voice.
"N- nothing. I was talking to myself. I want to buy this one, 6,000, right?"
Lami handed the Manual to the girl, and at the same time, he spotted the name tag on her uniform.
"Ivy."
"Yes?" Ivy asked, raising an eyebrow.
'Fucking hell.'
Lami noticed his mistake quickly.
"Uhh, cool name. So you weren't Emmanuel after all," he blurted out awkwardly. Though extremely embarrassed, he managed to keep a stoic expression.
"It is 5,000 Crowns. Since we couldn't sell this one for over a year, it is on discount."
Ivy's voice carried an irritated tone, taking notice of it. Lami paid for the Manual and left Emmanuel's Manual Shop.
"I did it again. It shouldn't be hard talking to myself, no? Wait, I am still doing it!"
"Haaa."
Lami took a deep breath, trying to dispel his frustration.
'Okay. I won't do it anymore. Let's get the thing I need.'
Lami took out his phone and started taking notes.
'Sleeping bag, shampoo, tent, underwear, towel, toothbrush, toothpaste, food, stuff to cook and start fire with, knife... Yeah, that should be it.'
He was going to live in the forest for the next few weeks, only leaving for the written test and enrollment.
Applicants had the option to take the theoretical test and the practical test separately or both together. As long as the applicants passed both of the tests, they would be accepted to the academy.
Well, theoretically.
The academy accepted 2,000 students each year, so applicants had to pass the tests and rank high enough.
However, any candidate who ranked in the top ten in either test would be admitted with a special discount.
The risk wasn't that big of a deal for Lami. He was confident he would do well on the theoretical test; he was home-schooled by his mother after all.
The written test was on the 9th of August, and it was the 31st, so Lami had exactly nine days.
Lami bought the things he needed and made his way to the forest. Originally, he had planned to go to the F-rank zone directly, but he changed his mind after obtaining Swift Strike.
He would be in the safe zone for the first week and then write the test. After enrolling and getting his Pockert, it would be time to fight.
…
A warm summer evening, breeze rustling through green leaves, birds and cicadas chirping. It was a peaceful day.
Until it wasn't.
Whoosh!
"Again!"
A black-haired boy was holding an unsheathed blood-red Katana, sweat dripping from his handsome, chiseled face.
His posture was upright, and his crimson eyes were full of determination, but his slightly curved lips betrayed his satisfaction.
Whoosh!
"One more!"
Whoosh!
"Katas are done for today," Lami said while grabbing a towel from his ring. "Quick dip in the water, and then it continues with mana control."
In the past eight days, all Lami did was train relentlessly. At first, he was annoyed by how extreme the methods to learn Swift Strike were, but he quickly grew accustomed to them.
Training hard brought some peace to his overthinking mind.
Each day, he would follow a strict regimen: meditation, a thousand katas, mana control exercises, and then repeating the cycle until his body couldn't move anymore.
But today, he decided to end his training earlier as tomorrow was the day of the theoretical exam.
After bathing quickly, Lami finished the last segment of his training. He was exhausted—not only physically but mentally as well.
Learning from Manuals required pushing mana into the Manual while simultaneously grasping the essence of the battle art being taught.
Mental images and scriptures would appear in the user's mind. The first step was to understand the theory behind the Manual.
Once that was mastered, the user could begin practicing.
Since the process was tied to the core, the knowledge couldn't be easily forgotten, and the user could sense their progress.
What Lami had learned from Swift Strike so far wasn't anything groundbreaking, but it was all new information for him.
He had learned the correct grip, posture, foot, and shoulder movement.
He hadn't completely mastered the Swift Strike, but he was getting closer.
Although he felt tired, he was also filled with a sense of joy. Reflecting on everything he had accomplished over the past week, Lami closed his eyes.
Tomorrow was going to be his first visit to the Academy.
Nexus.
每周推薦票狀態
-- 推薦票
榜單 
-- 推薦票