The Dive: Birth of a Hero Page 14

  “To your level… that will take forever…” She had seen how skilled I appeared to be with the staff, while knowing that my main focus was magic. Of course, the skill that she had seen was just the amount granted by my Lesser Creation ability.

  “I don’t know… Jin, how much progress has she made so far?” Denise glanced to me with a grin.

  “Hmm… There are a few different factors. But I’d say she’s just a bit under a tenth of the way there.”

  “Wait.. a tenth? So… ten more days of this, and I’ll be as strong as you two?” Cynthia looked disbelievingly between the two of us.

  “Ah, no, you misunderstand. You see, Denise and I have a wide variety of skills, but we haven’t quite mastered any of them. With the few abilities you have now, even if you reach the level of a master it won’t compare to us. That’s going to be part of our journey, teaching you new skills.” Denise’s Archery was at twenty-eight now, so she was almost at the level of a master archer.

  “I see… What should I learn?” She was honestly seeking our opinion on how to get stronger.

  “Hmm… Well, first let me say this. This speed of growth will only apply for you as long as I’m nearby, until you get to our level. That said, maybe you could look into practicing other weapons, and develop some side skills. If all you can do is fight, you’ll be unable to take care of yourself after the battle is over.”

  Listening to me, she smiled and nodded quickly. “Okay… I’ll become as strong as you guys, even if it takes me months of training!”

  “That’s the spirit!” Denise cheered happily, applauding Cynthia’s enthusiasm.

  Once we resumed our training, Cynthia seemed determined to use every opportunity to grow stronger. If I pointed out a flaw, she would immediately move to cover it. More and more, she began getting hits in. Finally, as she dealt a strike that actually hurt, I received a message.

  Cynthia has increased Heavy Armor to 7

  Cynthia has reached level 25. Despite her lack of natural talent, she has persisted in her training, pushing herself farther and farther. Thanks to this, the title No Potential has changed to Hard Worker.

  +10 to all stats, +20 Luck

  There was that Luck stat again. I still had no idea what it had to do with her new title, but I decided to let it slide. It’s not like she’d understand if I started asking her about stats. Even so, this was essentially an increase of seventy stat points, a massive boost for her level. After that pop up appeared, her attacks suddenly became more powerful, her defense more focused. Every now and then she’d even manage to push me back.

  In the next thirty minutes, Cynthia had already gained ten levels to my one. Her growth had well exceeded my expectations, and before long I had to switch out with Denise. It was unfortunate that I was unable to gain any more levels sparring with her, but Cynthia was quickly becoming stronger than I was in melee combat.

  Denise didn’t have as much trouble as I did, since her own swordsmanship was higher than Cynthia’s. Not only that, but all of her physical stats far outclassed the young warrior. Still, Cynthia gave it her best effort and Denise would coach her the same as I had. Denise seemed to be enjoying it, probably thinking back to when she herself was being trained with the sword by the demon general Krath.

  Hmm, I wonder when I should tell Cynthia about the demons? I’ll wait until she’s a bit more used to us. I nodded my head to my plan, smiling a bit. Denise was showing Cynthia all of the skills she had learned, and Cynthia was happily learning them. By the time she was too tired to lift her sword, her level had risen to fifty.

  “Okay, this is good for the first day.” I stood up by the tree I had been sitting against, happy with her progress. After she broke past the No Potential threshold, she was gaining strength nearly as fast as Levy had.

  “Are you sure…?” Cynthia looked at me, as if saying she would continue if I let her.

  “I’m sure. You are already several times stronger than you were this morning. Another day or two, and you’ll be able to master your sword fully.” Hearing me say that, Cynthia nodded excitedly.

  “Okay… once you think I’ve mastered it, let me know… I’ll move on to another weapon at that time.” Knowing that she really was getting stronger, she seemed more sure of herself now.

  “I’ll keep that in mind. Tomorrow, let’s see about getting you some better equipment, since it looks like you’ve already surpassed what I can make.”

  Looking at her sword, Cynthia frowned slightly. “Are you sure? I can keep using it…”

  “It’s alright. You need to have gear that will fully display your skill. Well, you can keep the armor. You haven’t quite outgrown it yet, and you’ll have to order it custom to fit your body size.”

  Cynthia nodded at my words, “Okay. Thank you for helping me like this, really…”

  “It’s not a problem. We’ve been looking for a warrior to join us for a while now, and you seemed perfect for the job.”

  Looking to me, Cynthia switched her gaze over to Denise, looking her over for a few minutes. “Jin’s a pervert…” Denise immediately began laughing hard enough that she fell down on the ground.

  “I am not gathering women on purpose! The only other person at the hall that matched what we were looking for had a stick shoved so far up her ass I thought it might be a permanent fixture. As for the third person, they weren’t at the hall, and Denise never told me about them.”

  “Ah, he was a guy…” After a few moment, Denise finally managed to control herself enough to speak. “But he was from some big house, looked like nobility. We’re better off with Cynthia.”

  “Agreed.” I nodded, and Cynthia smiled a bit.

  “Anyone else in our group I should know about?”

  “Well, we’ve got a few friends that I call on when we need them. You’ll meet them before too long. There’s also our horse. But… hmm… Midnight can’t talk to you like he can to us. That could get awkward.”

  “Your horse talks to you?” Cynthia blinked repeatedly when she heard those words.

  “Yeah, one of the spells I have allows animals I mark to communicate with me. At the same time, Denise has the ability to tame animals, and communicate with the ones she has tamed. Sorry, but it looks like you’ll be left out there unless one of the skills you develop are along those lines.”

  “That’s… alright.” Cynthia shook her head, smiling slightly to herself. Stepping out from behind the tree, we began walking back towards the city. As expected, we didn’t encounter any bandits this time. Either I had killed too many of them and they didn’t have the manpower to find us, or they were specifically leaving me alone to not interfere with my duel in a week.

  Chapter 10

  The next day, we briefly introduced Cynthia to Midnight at the stables before heading to the shops to update her equipment. As she was now, the items I create with my Origin Magic would be too weak for her to properly use. Her levels with both her sword and her shield had hit twenty, meaning it was time to find her good quality items.

  Maybe I can get another demon weapon from Lilith once the two of them meet? No, that would be asking too much. Denise already received two such weapons. When Denise had finished her training with Krath, she was granted the demon sword Omen, and the demon bow Nightshade. Asking to get a weapon of similar quality for Cynthia would be going a bit far.

  Once we got to the blacksmith, I told Cynthia that I’d be paying for whatever she purchased, so she didn’t have to worry about the price. Even without that, I had noticed that she had several thousand gild when I opened her character information. She was probably from a rich house or something.

  The first thing we did was commission a set of armor from the blacksmith, letting him take her measurements to ensure it fit right. Then, after that was taken care of we browsed around for weapons. The items here were all of similar quality to the ones we had seen in Coatin, the place where we purchased Denise’s main scimitar.

  While she was looking around, Cynthi
a seemed a bit uncertain what she should get. When I asked, she said that she just wasn’t sure what would be good for her.

  “I’ve never shopped for anything like this, you know?”

  “Ah, is that it? Alright then, how about I help?” Since I was able to see the abilities of an item if I studied it, finding a good sword and shield was no problem.

  After a bit of looking, I found a rather impressive looking longsword. Well, from the description of the item, it was actually a bastard sword. If I remembered my terms correctly, that means it should be usable with just one hand. Not only that, but in the pommel of the sword was a ruby that had a spell diagram embedded deep within the center of the gem.

  “Sir… I’d like to ask about this bastard sword.”

  “Ah, you’ve got a good eye. What do you want to know about it?” The burly blacksmith walked over with a grin, looking at the sword.

  “That gem, in the pommel, how did it get the spell embedded in it? I’ve never encountered anything like that before.”

  “Oh? That’s a Fire Stone. They’re naturally grown like that.”

  “I see, so this is a sword capable of using fire, then?” Thanks to learning about the Mana Stones from Jackson, I wasn’t that surprised seeing one here.

  “That’s right. If you hold the sword, and say the word ‘enflame’, it’ll wrap the sword in fire.”

  I nodded, having expected something like that. “How much do you want for it?” Price wasn’t really an issue, but I couldn’t just make an obscene offer and through around money like water.

  “Hmm… It doesn’t have any other enchantments, so three thousand will do.” When Cynthia heard the price, she paled visibly. I nodded my acceptance and handed thirty gold coins over to the blacksmith. “Thank you very much. Is there anything else you’re looking for?”

  “Actually, yes. Aside from the armor and the sword, we’re also looking for a shield for my friend.” I spoke about the business casually, while Cynthia kept shaking her head as if to say that this was plenty.

  “Hmm… What’s your price range? Keep in mind that the armor you wanted will cost you another thousand.”

  “Then let’s say a six thousand limit for the shield. I trust that will be enough?” The Blacksmith nodded happily, and showed us a shield that he kept under his counter.

  “Some of the merchandise I don’t put on display, since it’s more likely to be stolen. This here is my best shield.” The shield was larger than the circular one I made for Cynthia, and looked closer to a knight’s shield, but with three curved points at the top. On the front of the shield, in the dead center, was a brown gem that had a spell diagram embedded in it. “This is an Earth Stone, which holds a defense boosting spell. On the other side is a Life Stone, that slowly heals the wielder.”

  Flipping the shield over, there was indeed a blood red gem with a spell diagram embedded in it. “For a shield with two Mana Stones, I think six thousand is a fair price. The only downside is that the Earth Stone causes the shield to become heavier, so only someone strong can use it.” Saying that, he looked doubtfully towards Cynthia.

  “We’ll take it.” I answered before Cynthia could offer a word of complaint. This was essentially the perfect tank shield. And Cynthia’s strength would increase greatly soon, even if she wasn’t strong enough to wield it now. “Also, do you have any spare Mana Stones? I’d like to buy them from you, if you do, so that I can study them.”

  “Oh? You want the stones even if they aren’t in equipment? Hmm, well I’ve got a Water Stone that has a fog spell in it, and a Night Stone with a darkness spell. Since they haven’t been placed in equipment yet, I can sell them for a thousand gild each.”

  “I understand.” Rather than pulling out eighty gold coins, I just handed the man a single platinum one. “If I can find another stone, can you use the extra funds to put it in the armor?”

  Seeing the platinum coin, the man’s eyes shone. “Why, yes, of course.” Cynthia was also dumbstruck by the platinum coin that I handed to the man. It wasn’t surprising, really, one of those coins was equal to a hundred gold coins, or ten thousand gild. It was rare to see them being used, as it was easier to acquire five hundred gold coins then find someone that could trade them for the larger currency.

  That wasn’t an issue with me, since I could turn a copper coin into a platinum one if I wanted to. My Customize spell really was a cheat. After taking the payment, the blacksmith hurriedly ran behind the counter, returning with two stones, one black and the other blue. Each had a glowing spell diagram embedded in their centers.

  “Thank you very much, sir.” I bowed politely to the man, and made my way out of the building with both the shield and the sword. Well, Denise was carrying the shield since it seems Cynthia was struggling with it.

  “You… where did you get that kind of money?” The slim warrior asked me.

  “I’m an adventurer, allow me my secrets.” I grinned to her, and she shook her head quickly. “Fine, fine. I’ll show you before we begin training for the day, alright?”

  “Good! Let’s go, then!”

  “Alright.” The three of us went back out to the forest where we had trained before, though Denise was still carrying the new shield. When I took hold of the shield to check its information, I discovered its name was Iron Fortress. The bastard sword didn’t have a unique name, since it was only a Masterwork quality weapon, rather than a rare. Cynthia would need at least a hundred and fifty strength to wield the shield, so today we were going to be doing strength training.

  But first, I had a promise to keep. Sitting down by the same tree that we had occupied the previous day, I pulled out a copper coin. “Denise? We alone?”

  Just like she had before, Denise scanned the area with her eyes, and then nodded to me. Looking to Cynthia, I began explaining. “I’m not just a magic caster, I’m a mage from the city of Rosenheim. One of the things I can do with my unique magic, is this.” While holding up the coin, I silently cast Customize on it, adjusting its properties to change it from copper to gold.

  “That… that’s cheating! No wonder she said that about you!” Cynthia’s face was red as she shouted that out.

  “Yeah, it really is, man.” Another voice, one I hadn’t quite expected, came out from above us. Looking up, we saw Kirasami hanging from a branch above us. “I was wondering why your information just listed your gild amount as infinite. I guess even this world acknowledged that cheat.”

  “Was wondering when you would show up again.” I chuckled, shaking my head and flipping the coin up into the air. Happily, Kirasami caught and pocketed the coin.

  “Who’s this guy..?” Cynthia, seeing someone that even Denise hadn’t been able to spot, was suddenly back to being the same scared girl that we found in the Fighter’s Hall.

  “Ah, don’t mind him. That’s Kirasami. He’s one of the bandits, but he’s actually pretty cool.”

  “A… a bandit?” Cynthia slowly turned her gaze to me, and I nodded.

  “Hey, don’t talk about me like that. I’ll have you know I take no part in killing natives. I may rob you blind, but I’m not that bad.”

  “Kirasami, maybe you shouldn’t try to defend yourself like that.” I chuckled a bit, noticing how Cynthia was trembling.

  “Ah, sorry little girl. I didn’t mean to frighten you like that. Don’t worry, I don’t plan to rob you or anything. I’m just following this guy.” The ninja above us pointed a finger to me. “By the way, good job finding a warrior. She doesn’t really look that strong, but I’m guessing you have a plan for that.”

  “Yeah. She won’t be at our level before we leave, though. Alright, Cynthia, you ready to begin practicing? Today we’re going to focus on training up your Strength until you can use that shield. And of course, the best way to train your strength is to use it.” Nodding to Denise, I smirked a bit. She got the message, and set down the shield on the ground.

  “We’re going to do our normal sparring now, but you’ll be against me and usin
g both pieces of your new equipment. Once you can move normally while carrying that shield, you’ll switch out with Denise like yesterday.”

  Cynthia gulped, looking at the shield before going over to it and picking it up. While holding the shield with one arm and her sword with another, she could barely stand. The effort she was using to remain upright was evident on her face. Holding my hand out, I used my Lesser Creation to form a staff from my mana.

  Kirasami was still watching from above us, and let out a whistle as he saw me make the staff. As one who uses conjured weapons, he was able to recognize that this was not an effect like that. If he wasn’t so distracted during the big fight the other day he might have noticed it sooner. “So that’s how you got guns… You’re just full of surprises.”