Life In The Demonic Land – Chapter 108

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Chapter 108 – Each Person’s Training Life Part 3 (Makyo and the Others)

If you stay in the same place and eat the same food, the time of change may be the same. During the time that Chel was away in the Meiju Kingdom and then returned, the inhabitants of the demonic land on the coast had clearly changed in some way. And in a direction that none of them had expected.

Maybe it was me at first. I was able to use magic cubes to extract not only monster flesh but also soil and rocks. Thanks to this, I have earned the title of “Weirdo”, but I can still use this skill.

For example, if I can’t go home, I can dig a hole in the ground and build a simple house. Or if I combine that with the ability to raise the ground, I can make a base anywhere.

“You can’t do that in the desert or the ocean, can you?”

Hel commented, but if I combine blocks of magic power, I can pile up blocks of sand from the beach and blocks of water from the ocean.

“As long as my magic power lasts, I can maintain the membrane covering these blocks, so I can really build a base anywhere. Even on a raft.”

“H-h-how long can you maintain it?”

“A few days is no problem.”

“””…..”””

I can also create pitfalls in an instant. Dealing with plants and monsters and collecting parts has also become easier.

Next up is Jennifer.

I think it was around the third day of living on the beach. She woke me up early in the morning on purpose and started explaining things to me, even though I hadn’t asked her anything.

“In other words, I thought the harder the defense, the better. But like you all said, I thought if I could make it more flexible, I could reduce the impact, so I researched it all night, and I’ve done it!”

Jennifer used defensive magic and created a wall of magic. Unlike mine, it was really just a wall.

“Can you try to hit it?”

“You woke me up in the morning, so I’ll hit it for real.”

I put magic power into my fist and hit it as hard as I could.

Boing~!

It felt like I was hitting a flat slime, and my fist sank into the wall. In addition, the impact rebounded, and I was blown onto the beach.

“How is it? This is a slime wall, not a solid wall. The structure is like a beehive, with no gaps, but I made the texture extremely soft.”

“I see, a slime without a magic stone. It would be difficult to deal with. Can it handle slashing attacks as well?”

“I think it’s soft enough that you can trap it at the moment of impact. If I had to pick a weakness, it would be a concentrated thrust to a single point. However, it doesn’t seem like any of the monsters in Demon Land would do something like that.”

“That’s amazing.”

Jennifer, covered in sweat and sand, smiled as if her former shell had been broken. She had collapsed from lack of sleep and magic power.

Hel’s awakening was special.

It all started when Sylvia and I were clearing the debris from the beach.

As we dug through the stones and rocks that were different from the sand, we came upon a pier. It was made of concrete with no joints, and it jutted out into the sea. It was the kind of building material Chel had mentioned, made by mixing cement with various other ingredients.

“They used a lot of concrete in Yggdrasil, didn’t they?”

“T-t-t-this might not just be a pier.”

“Then what is it?”

“T-t-t-there are big rocks placed around the sea, so maybe they were used to stop the waves? And the ends are round…”

The end of the pier that Sylvia pointed to was indeed round. It looked like a tower or something had been built there.

“A lighthouse?”

“T-t-that’s what I thought!”

“Well, maybe this was a large harbor after all. If that’s the case, it’s possible that they not only traded with the Meiju Kingdom but also with other continents and far away countries.”

“W-w-what about the warehouse ruins?”

“There’s a port here, so there must be some warehouses.”

Sylvia and I quickly searched the surrounding forest.

“Ma-Ma-Makyo. Use your magic to search the ground!”

We searched blindly through the moss and grass but didn’t find anything, so Sylvia gave me some instructions.

I released magic power into the ground and looked at the earth. In the desert, I was wary of golems appearing, but inside the earth, I found the foundations of a hard building buried there.

“There it is! The foundations of a building.”

Just like the pier, the foundations seemed to be made of concrete. They were too big to be a single stone.

“L-let’s dig!”

Digging with the magic cube makes it easy to dig out the roots. It also removes the soil and trees from the roots.

“Oh, no!”

I dug carefully, but my clumsiness caused the magic cube to extend to the foundation.

“Huh?”

“W-w-what’s wrong? You didn’t dig up the foundation, did you?”

Sylvia gave me a stern look, but the foundation was not even scratched.

“No, it’s the other way around. I can’t dig into the foundation. What is this concrete made of?”

“Hmm?”

For now, I decided to remove the soil that was in the way and expose the building’s foundation.

There were several square holes where the pillars were supposed to have stood, but the pillars had long since collapsed under the sea breeze, and only fragments remained.

The foundation, however, was still in good shape.

“C-can I try it?”

Sylvia asked, picking up the hammer made of bones.

“I think it’s okay. The foundations are still buried over there, so even if one breaks, it won’t be a problem.”

Thump.

The old concrete did not break, but the hammer did. It can withstand a certain amount of impact. Magic doesn’t work on it, either.

“This is a really hard construction material.”

“N-no, something’s wrong. Didn’t Makyo’s new technique allow you to hollow out rocks?”

“I think it would hollow out normal rocks, but… Could it be that the foundation has some kind of magic circle on it?”

“Yes. I-I-I thought it was just some scribbles, but look at this.”

Sylvia found a magic circle about the size of a palm in the middle of the foundation. At first, she thought it was just a speck of dirt, but when she touched it, she found that it was engraved. What’s more, next to the magic circle, there was also an engraved crest that looked like a deer.

“Is it like a builder’s mark?”

“M-maybe.”

“The magic circle is just like the way it withered the leaves in an instant.”

“T-t-time magic?!”

“If the time of these construction materials was stopped by time magic, then it would make sense that they’re still in shape and the shock hasn’t passed through them…”

After that, we tried to scrape off the magic circle many times, but we couldn’t.

“I-i-is it because even a small amount of magic power is enough to activate it? L-Let’s call Hel!”

We called Hel, who was practicing with her whip in the forest.

“You say you want help, but I’ve got work to do too. I’ll put a magic stone from a honey ant on the tip of this snakeskin and make it sticky…”

“Y-y-you can do that later. For now, just try to break this magic circle without using magic.”

“I can’t use magic, so this is a problem for me.”

Despite her complaints, Hel used a knife and hammer to chip away at the concrete magic circle.

“I-it’s done!”

“You did it so easily.”

When I tried to use the magic cube on the concrete with the magic circle removed, the concrete block came out easily.

“Y-y-you were right. This magic circle is the cause. Amazing! Hel, you’re amazing!”

“What’s the big deal? It’s not that hard. Anyone could do it.”

“No, I think only Hel could do it.”

“What do you mean?”

As Sylvia and I explained concrete and magic circles, Hel looked up at the sky and nodded deeply. Tears were in her eyes.

“I finally understand.”

“Understand what?”

“My role. With magic circles, I can use my existing knowledge of magic, and if I carve them even though I can’t use magic, there will be no accidents.”

It seems that people who study magic but can’t use magic are quite rare. Even skilled magical toolmakers are likely to have accidents because unexpected magic is activated while they are making the tool.

“Studying magic systematically and then not being able to use magic is like telling me to become a magical toolmaker. I’m surprised I didn’t realize this before. I thought I had wasted everything because I couldn’t use magic power, but it wasn’t a waste. Is this also the Deer God’s guidance?”

Hel said, running her finger over the deer crest.

“Elves have long lives. There are few times when you can feel that all the time you’ve lived hasn’t been wasted, and it’s rare that knowledge and curses mesh so perfectly, so from now on, I’ll be a magical tool shop owner. Makyo, will you still keep me in the demonic land?”

“Yes, please. I want you to be as good as P.J.”

Hel had found her purpose in life.

After that, she had Sylvia make a carving knife and hammer to carve magic circles, and she started making things like fountains and magic stone lanterns that gave off incredible light.

It seems that sometimes life takes a sudden turn in a different direction.

In Lipa’s case, it seems that it was only through hard work and chance that it happened.

Lipa is weak, whether in the Clif Garuda or the demonic land. His weakness shows in his face and body, and he looks weak, so he is attacked by monsters. It isn’t just monsters who attack him; people also take advantage of him.

“See, you can’t hit me with that!”

Jennifer, who had learned the Slime Wall, showed off her power by accompanying Lipa’s training.

Lipa couldn’t refuse, and from that morning on, he hit the wall with his wooden sword.

“How’s it going? Are you getting a good response?”

I couldn’t stand by and watch any longer, so I spoke up.

“No, not at all. What should I do?”

“Thrust. Concentrate all your strength in one point, from your legs to your feet, and then from your waist to your arms, twisting your body, and you might be able to break through the wall. You see, even the monsters in demonic land have their own weapons, right? I bet they concentrate their power at the moment of attack when they use their weapons.”

“Weapons and concentration? I see…”

“Makyo-san, please don’t teach him something he doesn’t need to know.”

“No, it should also help him overcome Jennifer’s weakness.”

With that, I left them alone for a while.

The next day, I went into the forest with Jennifer and fought the monsters until nightfall.

“How are you?”

I asked Lipa, who was lying down with the medicine all over her body.

“I’m beginning to understand the weapons of each monster. I’ve also learned from watching Jennifer-san that when someone concentrates on using their special weapon, there are other openings that can be exploited.”

“That may be so. But you shouldn’t be too proud of your strengths.”

“Yes. The same goes for monsters. If they see me as weak, they will definitely attack with their own special weapons, so there will be many openings.”

“If you’re attacked by monsters more often than humans, you’ll gain more experience, right?”

“Yes. If only my body could keep up…”

Lipa seemed to have reached his limit and fell asleep.

Lipa was probably the one who put the saying “move well, eat well, sleep well” into practice the most on the beach.

“Makyo-san, what did you teach Lipa-kun?!”

Jennifer asked me around noon the next day.

“What happened? Did the slime wall break?”

“It broke this morning when it was attacked at its weak point. And when I went into the forest with it, it defeated the monsters that attacked us with a single blow. It makes no sense for me to be there just to defend.”

“Oh, I guess he won the battle to survive in the demonic land.”

“But wasn’t it sudden? Up until now, he was just following behind me and wasn’t able to deal with the monsters at all…”

“If you look at it from the side, a person’s growth is usually sudden, right? From the person’s perspective, it’s been a slow and steady process. This guy has been working hard for a long time, so it looks to me like his efforts are finally starting to pay off.”

“Is that so?”

Jennifer looked unconvinced and went to work on her double slime wall plan.

“What meat would you like today, Makyo-san?”

Lipa, who had just come out of the forest drenched in sweat, asked.

“Lipa has also adapted to the demonic land.”

“Thanks to Makyo-san’s advice and this environment. I’m weak and have no skills. I could only concentrate on moving forward because there was so little I could do. My practice probably didn’t mean much.

It’s common for people to change depending on their environment.

Sometimes, you get caught up in the changes around you. When I think about it, I think Sylvia was getting pretty impatient.

While the four of us were learning magic and changing our way of life, she was still digging underwater and near the coast, just like when she was the only one in the western cave. She was also always busy making tools for me and Hel.

“W-w-we’re short of hands…”

She always said that at mealtimes.

“Even if you get the strength of a monster, you can’t become more than that…”

When Sylvia got tired, she stopped stuttering completely. Taking this as a sign, Hel and I decided to force her to rest.

“You don’t need to work so hard.”

“Maybe we were asking too much of Sylvia.”

We made her sniff the numbing medicine and laid her down on the warm beach.

Hel and I sat down on either side of her and looked out at the distant sea.

“This is something I want to do, and I want to live up to people’s expectations. I couldn’t do it in East Kenya…”

Sylvia moved her mouth, though she was numb.

“I know what I have to do, but my body and my time can’t keep up. I don’t know what to do…”

“For now, you need to rest. Just sleep for now.”

I put Sylvia to sleep with the sleeping powder.

“Sylvia is a good old-fashioned noblewoman. She’s always working for someone.”

“She’s not stingy with her money, and she’s not bad-looking either. But somehow, she’s been driven out of her own territory…”

“I suppose it’s because she’s a member of a vampire family that she was taken by surprise. It seems that when a territory is blessed with a good lord and good people for a long time, it can sometimes be brought down by outside forces with evil intentions.”

“I guess it wasn’t something Sylvia could have done anything about, right?”

“Yes. She knows that. But still, I think she wanted to do something. Even if she goes back to her hometown, I think she wants to become someone who can do something, not just a noblewoman.”

“I think she’s doing a good job as a weapon shop owner in the demonic land.”

“Makyo doesn’t really need weapons. You just use your fists.”

“That’s just how my fighting style is… Should I be more careful and use Sylvia’s weapons on purpose?”

“She wouldn’t agree to that. Sylvia is also a resident of the demonic land, so it would be easy to find out.”

“That’s right. The only way is for her to change her mind.”

“I wish she had a chance to change like I did.”

“Well, it’s okay to take things slow. It doesn’t have to be now.”

“That’s true.”

Hel and I decided to wait, but the opportunity came the next day when the girl found it herself. After resting, she was making a knife handle from the monster’s bone for me when she cut off the base of her index finger.

“Are you alright? You can still sleep if you want. There’s no rush.”

When I tried to give her the herbs in a hurry, Sylvia stopped me.

“N-no, wait a minute…”

Sylvia started to collect the blood that was flowing into the hollow of her hand. I thought she had finally lost her mind, but it seems that wasn’t the case.

“B-b-blood has caused the destiny of the vampire family to go awry. That’s why various studies have been conducted, including by the successive heads of the family.”

“Is that so…”

“C-can I try to challenge the legend?”

“Yes, that’s a good idea. Don’t worry about making a mistake. After all, I’ve already made a mistake with the land purchase.”

“O-o-okay. Just prepare the medicine.”

With that, Sylvia went into the forest.

I thought about following her because it looked dangerous, but I didn’t want to get in the way. Sylvia spent some time in the demonic land, so she’ll probably come back if it’s really dangerous.

After about an hour of waiting, Sylvia returned with a large, jet-black lizard monster.

“What’s wrong with that monster?”

The lizard monster seems to be well-tamed by Sylvia.

“I-I-I tamed it. If I put magic power into my blood and make the monster lick it, I can control it. S-so it looks like the legend was true.”

“That’s amazing. So the vampire clan can do that as well?”　

“I-I-I didn’t believe it either, but is it because my magic power has increased?”

“No, I don’t know… Can you continue to use it like this?”

“I-I-I think the effect will wear off once the blood is digested. Anyway, we can let this black lizard do the heavy lifting.”

“Oh, that’s how you use it…”

“What? D-don’t you want to rebuild the warehouse?”

“Well, if it’s possible…”

“Th-th-then let’s do it. Makyo, cut down some trees and let the black lizard carry them.”

“If you tell me to, I’ll do it.”

We will collect the wood to fit the holes in the pillars of the warehouse foundation. If we go inland, we won’t have any trouble finding materials, as there are also varieties of Treant.

If I use the magic cube to cut the wood to the right size, I can finish processing it. All that’s left is to bind it to the house-sized black lizard with vines and send it to the warehouse ruins.

It seems that Jennifer and Lipa have also joined us in the warehouse. The black lizard also came with a message, saying things like, “The pillar is finished; next is the board.”

Even after the sun goes down, there’s no problem because the magic stone lantern that Hel made is bright and illuminates the workshop.

We worked on the planks all night, and when we returned to the camp ruins at dawn, we found that a two-story, roofless warehouse had been completed. It’s bigger than the training grounds of the Adventurers’ Guild.

“It’s huge!”

“I think that was the atmosphere.”

Sylvia explained without stuttering. She must have been tired from working all night.

“You can sleep. Jennifer and Lipa are also asleep. Where’s Hel?”

Jennifer and Lipa were asleep, leaning against the wooden wall.

“She said she was going to build a simple lighthouse at the end of the pier…”

“Oh.”

I walked to the end of the pier.

Hel was using the leftover wood to build a wooden structure with a magic stone lantern hanging from the top.

“Ah, Makyo, you’re just in time. Chel will be back soon, so I was making a lighthouse. Can you put some magic into the magic stone lantern?”

“Ah, now that you mention it, there was someone like that. I’d completely forgotten about it.”

I released the magic power into the hanging magic stone lantern. The area around us suddenly brightened, and the light shone out to the end of the foggy sea.

“I wonder what Chel will say when she sees us like this?”

“I think she’ll be surprised, then angry.”

“It’s only been a week since she left the demonic land, and we’ve changed so much. I can’t wait to see her face when she sees us.”

It was that evening when we saw the ship carrying Chel.

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