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Dawn Traveller - Chapter 07 - The Time of The Raging Storm Part II
"You learn many things about life from observing the ways of Mana... Having a chance to study magic is a great opportunity to see your potential in the field, because Magic is not a field of education that everyone can study."
"I think it's better for me to learn it when I'm older, since I am not smart enough right now."
"No, from what I have observed so far, you are very intelligent."
"I think I'll only be a burden to you, Hersey."
"You are young, but very considerate."
"...."
"If you find it hard, then you can always work harder to understand. Potential is a big aspect in the art of Magic, but academic skill is also required. That's also why some prefer to call is the Study of Magic."
When Jys turned 5, he gained a mentor.
Hersey, who had his eyes on Jys since he was born, had volunteered to teach the young boy.
Magic was difficult and at times even dangerous if not understood fully.
It was harder for Jys to pretend not to understand about the things that Hersey had both uttered and thought about Magic so far.
"If you learn the basics of magic from a younger age, you start to consider the law of Mana from an earlier age. That will become a great basis for you, when you become a high-level magician later on. Oh, and visit Nedhand after my class is finished. He said that he had something to teach you too."
Nedhand awaited him at the city blacksmith's.
Even though it was a largely populated city, it was still unsafe for children, so Grona had to drop him off.
"It's not easy to produce a high-quality metal, but it's not too difficult when done with patience and resilience."
"I have no will to become a blacksmith."
"It's a good way to strengthen a warrior. Let's start today with learning how to hold a hammer, and softening metal."
Jys had a tiny bit of interest in blacksmiths. His curiosity lay in producing something out of metal. His interest in playing with mere mud in art class at school didn't last five minutes before he was bored again.
Rhythmically hammering the metal was a strain on his physical abilities.
"My hand hurts so much. Can't I do something else?"
"Did I overestimate you? Well, it doesn't really seem like a job for a weak-boned human child. Then try switching materials."
"When can I make a sword?"
"In ten years, when your hand is all calloused, is when you can move onto the next level."
"I would like to do it earlier..."
"Kid, I want to teach you, but it's pointless to do so before you've understood the metal and the fire's breathing."
As expected of a Dwarf master artisan, he did not teach his ways easily.
Hersey's teachings were things that he'd heard before, growing up.
Jys had listened and understood most of it when he was a baby, since he had nothing else to do.
And learning more about the questions he had wanted to ask as a baby was like finally getting rid of an itch.
In contrast to that, Nedhand's teachings consisted of physical exhaustion and were difficult to handle for Jys, who still was very much a child.
"I am still young. What if this injures me now?"
Jys tried to argue, but Nedhand only chuckled in response.
"Your mom can fix you up."
"Ah!"
Priestess Riley's ability enabled her to heal and injury or illness.
Faking an illness was impossible, since she could fix even broken bones or serious muscle strains in an instant.
'The saying of a mother's touch being medicinal is very literal here.'
Since it was easy to lose one's life, lessons were harsh, even to a child.
There was no other option but to start beating the metal and doing whatever Nedhand taught him to do.
"Ah, there is no easy way of anything anywhere. I didn't expect to struggle to learn things here."
*
Yeon Woo returned back to reality and sprawled himself out on his bedroom floor.
"Ah, this is good."
He was at his happiest when he rolled around eating ice-cream, with nothing to do.
Other kids were normal 8 year olds.
Yeon Woo had the mental capacity of a 13 year old.
"I don't want to join children in their playing..."
His school tended not to make a big deal out of being high on the academic scale, so he succeeded in obtaining an image as a model-student.
At home, he had his older and younger siblings, but to him they seemed too young.
10 year old Yeon Jung Soo.
I already used up all of my allowance... Should I take some from my siblings? No... they wouldn't have much either. I'll take some from the kids that go past the back doors at school.
7 year old Yeon Tae Jin.
I have to kill the ants. I should fry them with my magnifying glass. I will also catch some grasshoppers and scare the girls at the playground tomorrow. Heheheh.
6 year old Yeon Yool.
There's a talent show tomorrow at preschool. I'm going to beg mom and get her to buy me a pretty dress. Tralala... Maybe I should act cute in front of dad to get a pretty hairpin to go with it.
"When will you guys grow up? I wonder if that day will come before the world ends."
Yeon Woo was even more frustrated at his siblings because he could read the minds of his parents.
His parents were both working hard, trying to get enough money for the family!
'I should get some of this month's cash to eat and drink with my friends...'
Dad sometimes tried to spend some of his pay on himself, but he immediately bought things that his kids wanted or gave it to them as pocket money.
Mom prepared meals for them even though she was exhausted, and forced a bright smile on her face after getting home from work.
Yeon Woo knew very well the little things that his parents did that his siblings weren't aware of.
"Eh, I'm not bothered to play outside, and my room is the best."
Yeon Woo spent his weekends in his room watching TV and reading comics, even if his friends invited him out.
It was because he spent so much mental and physical effort to live in the other world that he preferred to rest in the 'real world'.
"I'm not bothered to do anything. I'm going to rest for about four days."
He obtained a reputation as a lazy turtle amongst his friends at school, but all he wanted to do was rest.
*
Jys aged another year and turned 6.
In Korea, in the real world, 5 and 6 year olds were still subjects to their parents' care, but Marka was different.
"It's finally time for you to learn how to run."
"Can't I already run pretty well though?"
"Can you run alongside the wind? Don't you want to learn how to run so fast and quiet that not even wild animals know that you've gone past? With a little training, you can run faster than any bird in the forest can fly."
"Is, is that possible for me as well?"
"No, it's difficult for a human. Only elves can run like that in a forest."
"..."
"But you can still learn. Humans are very resilient."
The Dark Elf Grona taught him to run.
The Elves' way of running was very different from humans. They don't pant in their breaths. Instead they take long breaths of the forest and barely touch the ground.
"It will be hard at first. It's not easy for a human to learn how to run like an elf. The only way you can make yourself light as a feather is by breathing in the forest. You can even jump to the top of a tree in one go. Don't you want to be able to do that?"
"Hah... hah... No I don't, not at all!"
Jys ran in the forest until he was struggling to breathe and his heart was about to burst.
He had to run up high hills and over fallen trees when in reality he should have been playing tag with his friends in a playground.
Nedhand, Hersey and Grona did not hold back in teaching all they knew.
Jys rescuing them from a dungeon had caused them to start a prodigy tomb raider program.
In the land of Marka, there was a lot of danger, but with it lay many opportunities for wonderful adventures.
Large untouched lands, monster territories, perished nobles' lands, and discrete areas shut off by the government.
Anywhere he went, there was a huge risk of him ending up rotting in an unknown and secluded place, and it wasn't like he could carry around tens of spare lives that he could use.
Looking at it that way, it was understandable why Jys had to learn so many survival skills.
Even though he had a lot of experience seeing and hearing about the dungeons, it was up to him to learn how to realize those skills and experiences into physical forms.
'It's still somehow enjoyable.'
Jys's training and education was brutal, but his anticipation and excitement for the future strengthened.
Grona, Nedhand and Hersey's physical skills were amazing.
The way they moved and looked in battle was so much greater than any blockbuster movie.
They showed off their fighting skills by jumping high into the sky and kicking off walls with great speed and strength whenever they fought with monsters.
Hersey's magic was so majestic and powerful that it was sure to catch everyone's eye the moment it started its work.
'So they're saying that I can do all these things when I'm a little older.'
Jys, who had seen and experienced all these things since he was a newborn, had wanted all his life to become like them. It was inevitable.
'His learning and understanding in Mana theories are amazing. I don't know if he can feel and use Mana yet, but he could still get a job as a Mana scholar.'
'This kid... He's a little devious in his works, but he's resilient and hard working, seeing that he still does all his work. Humans can never be as good as dwarves in blacksmithing, so this is pretty good.'
'Even if he can't breathe the Forest's breath yet... His stamina and speed are increasing steadily. Rendal's blood is in him after all, even if Riley's constant healing and blessing is magnifying his development.'
His teachers' opinions of him were quite high, but they did not expect much of him yet.
Magic required the sense of Mana and the ability to regenerate Mana in a short time, which required a very high level of intelligence as well as good genetics.
If one did not possess the ability to sense and analyze Mana, it was better for them to stop on their path to becoming a Magician. There would be a high chance of them dying in the future if they were to attempt a powerful spell in a short time.
In most cases, people with less skill in Magic either became Magicians in a low-class circle or devoted their careers to research of magic by becoming a Magic scholar.
Of course, low-level Magicians were not respected by the world, and couldn't explore freely through the lands.
But Magicians were needed everywhere, so they could easily earn enough to buy a house and have a sustainable life.
The humans' skill of handling metal grew steadily over wars and development of technology. You could say that Mana weapons were the grand result of years of magicians researching the area.
The symbol and the grand fruit of studies of Magic, Mana weapons!
It was a work of art that was finally able to show off the humans' capabilities, after generations of being looked down upon by the other races.
The Dwarves allied with the high elves despite having been enemies since the production of Mana weapons began.
The combination of Dwarves, who could make anything, and Elves, who used the highest level magic spells in their everyday lives, produced the most artistic and beautiful Mana weapons.
They were even more useful and practical than the Grates Empire's ones, and were wanted by everyone, but the weapons did not roam the lands.
Some say that only High Elf warriors, living deep in the forests, possess such things.
Since the discovery of these weapons 270 years ago, they still pride themselves in being the best Mana weapon smiths around.
The Grates Empire kept developing theirs, but they simply could not catch up to the High Elves' and the Dwarves' works.
The Ogres are a race without Mana weapons of their own. Being daft creatures, even if they learned how to use and control these weapons, they would have only used them for stealing alcohol and food from the humans.
But Ogres living in the wild fields were very fierce.
Whenever humans built forts and tried to invade their lands, the Ogre tribes formed an alliance and began their smooth, water-like attack.
Even if the warriors with Mana weapons survived, their forts were destroyed and the other troops were massacred.
There were even instances of empires that settled in the great fields perishing completely after constant revolts by the Ogres.
Jys' parents discussed work plans with their colleagues while Jys read his book.
Rendal had attained a new piece of information through a tomb raider guild.
"The tomb that we are going to raid is where the knight Gargorsa of Lord Fred's province was buried."
Dwarf Nedhand was disappointed.
"If it's a human knight there wouldn't be much to take."
If it was of a knight of an average lord, he would be wealthier than normal citizens, but there was still a big difference than raiding a tomb of a low class noble.
"Knight Gargosa made his own tomb not in a cemetery but in a gorge. It was because he lost his child while fighting with monsters in the gorge. And the Fred bloodline was lost two years ago during a feud over power with other nobles. They were well known for their earned wealth from their business, but it mysteriously disappeared after their fall."
"So you're saying the money is in the tomb?"
"It's very likely. There aren't many people who remember where Gargosa's tomb is. The tomb is the Kelton Gorge, but it is a place not many people visit."
"Did they have Mana weapons?"
"They wouldn't have fallen in battle if they had a Mana weapon."
"Expensive items are acceptable too. I guess we have to pack equipment and check it out then."
Normal people did not dare enter the Kelton Gorge in fear of monsters that rampaged day and night.
So Rendal, Riley, Grona, Nedhand and Hersey packed their things and headed towards the Kelton Gorge.
Jys went along with his parents as well.
Since he grew a little, he had to walk himself instead of going on Grona's back like he used to.
'I hope we get quite a lot of treasures this time. It's great having parents that are masters in this area. I can live a comfortable life growing up just with the money hidden in our basement.'
They didn't hide everything in the basement.
They had divided their wealth into amounts they could hide in secluded places in the city or specific tombs that they knew of.
Since their income was from selling the deceaseds' treasures, they had to hide it for tens of years until they were forgotten and could sell them in secrecy.
It was like saving money for elderly years.
A fiercely shining sun lit a green field, and the field shone back.
It was a trip with monsters growling and wolves howling during the night.
A true tomb raider knows where the tomb is just by the looking at the shape of the land.
Gargosa's tomb was a cave on a steep hill in the middle of the gorge.
-
Translated by Hannah Kim
Proofread by Janowicz
This chapter was released on Thursday the 29th of December, 2016.
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