Entirely uncaring of Lynn’s nervousness, their expedition into the yellow zone went on.
At approximate 50 metre intervals, Teedro made magic letter markings on the trees and rocks.
Whenever their rings began to glow, they would immediately be on guard and search for the threat. If the magical beast showed itself, Teedro would bring it down.
Lynn followed Teedro’s instructions perfectly, and so concerned himself only with shadowing Teedro, and trying to learn as much as he could from sole observation.
He lives up to his reputation.
Whether it was his gait, his form, his awareness of his surroundings, his combat skills, or his technique, each aspect of his abilities seemed flawless to Lynn.
I can even learn something from just watching him like this. It’s good reference.
For the time being he resolved to focus on paying attention to Teedro’s movement and form.
“Lynn, do you have any demands or requests?”
Lynn wracked his brain at the question, but couldn’t think of anything.
“No, not particularly”.
Shortly after that, Teedro killed another magical beast. This time it was a Grizurin, which was a bear type beast.
Taking just the strongest parts, such as the claws, he left the rest of the corpse alone and pressed onward.
For a while now they had been making their way deeper into the yellow zone in this manner. Teedro would slay a monster, and would bother to take only very carefully selected parts, that he would later make into items.
“Don’t you use little people? Wouldn’t you be able to carry more loot if you used them?”
“I have no need for them. No matter how you look at it, they slow you down. Besides, more importantly I want to increase the rate at which I encounter magical beasts”.
Before long the sun had climbed to its highest point in the sky. They stopped to rest and have lunch.
Teedro erected a small magical barrier around their immediate vicinity. This way, even if something came close, they would be in no danger.
*****
As they ate Teedro began talking casually.
“When I look at you, I’m reminded of when I was a beginner student.
“In the past, like you, I would focus only on paying attention in class and completing my assignments”.
Lynn titled his head as he listened.
“Are you saying that approach isn’t the best?”
“That’s right. It won’t get you far”, he said in a strong tone.
“What the teaching staff are really after isn’t the students’ growth or development, but order. For order, they don’t think twice about squashing an individual student’s talent. I also used to think that I’d do well as long as I listened to my teachers. But one day I was surpassed by someone who ignored the rules. Does the name ‘Dorias’ mean anything to you?”
“No, I can’t say that it does”.
“I see. Well, you should know. He’s one of my peers, and he’s a bit of a problem child, but make no mistake, he’s a prodigy. For some reason at the moment he’s on a kind of hiatus, but when he makes his return, it will be the talk of the entire tower”.
“Really?”
“When I first started exploring the forest, me and Dorias made it to the boundary between the blue and yellow zones. There we saw a magical beast that’s known as a ‘Komororan’. It’s a rare one. It’s said to be spotted only once every ten or so years. As a beast, it’s not particularly strong, but it has many jewels which can be used to craft magical items. If you slay one, you can bet that you’ll get your hands on countless rare items. So we found this rare beast at the boundary, but it went into the yellow zone, which we were forbidden from entering. It was just out of our reach. Naturally, I hesitated. It was dangerous, for one thing, but more than that, part of me resisted the idea of breaking the rules.
But Dorias… He set foot into the yellow zone without the slightest hesitation.
I tried to stop him. I tried to tell him that breaking the rules wasn’t wise. That he shouldn’t do such a risky thing. But he just sneered at me, and disappeared into the yellow zone”.
Teedro’s eyes seemed to look at a far away point as he remembered the conversation.
*****
“Don’t be stupid Dorias! It’s against the rules. It’s dangerous”.
“It’s ok. I’m strong enough for the yellow zone. I’ll be fine”.
“You’re going to get yourself in trouble”.
Dorias laughed, mockingly.
“That’s what you’re worried about?”
*****
“He’s a bad person, that Dorias”.
“No, he was right. In exchange for just a little punishment, he was able to gain a lot of power. I still regret that day, even now”.
His face really was full of regret. At first Lynn didn’t know what to say to him, but after a few moments he found the words.
“Hopefully, this time you’ll be able to steal a march on Dorias”.
Teedro laughed bitterly.
“Yeah. How wonderful it would be if I could do that…”
After they finished eating lunch, Teedro closed the barrier, and together they began retracing their steps, returning the way they had come.
By now, Lynn had lost most of the nervousness that he had harboured earlier. At lunch, he felt that they had broken down some kind of invisible barrier between them, and now it was much easier to relax. Even Teedro seemed to share the sentiment, as at this point he had begun to get a good impression of the young boy Lynn, who was so friendly.
“Lynn, I want to apologize to you. I’ve been too preoccupied with my own circumstances, I forget to think of you too. Maybe I should have been more considerate”.
“Oh- no, not at all”.
“On the way back, feel free to voice any wishes you may have. I’ve managed to fulfill some of my quota so we have some time. For example, maybe there’s a magical beast that you’ve heard about, and you’re interested in. Or an item that you’re after. If you have any wishes like that, don’t hold back. Tell me”.
He looked at Lynn expectantly. At this point he had more or less deduced that Lynn possessed no exceptionally great power, but at the very least he wanted him to show a little spirit.
“Thank you for being so considerate. But I’m more than happy just watching you. I’m already learning a lot”.
“I see…”
He made a troubled expression.
“Lynn. There’s something else as well. I wonder if inviting you to Magulheim was perhaps troubling for you?”
“Troubling? No, I- It hasn’t been troubling at all. I was glad. I’m getting to experience lots of really good things”.
“I see. As long as you say so. It doesn’t seem like you have much interest in magical beasts, the forest, or items, so I wondered if perhaps you were actively engaged with some kind of other activity, which is keeping your mind preoccupied. Are you participating in something outside of Magulheim?”
“No, nothing like that”.
“Is that so…”
Teedro fell silent, as if thinking carefully.
Maybe I didn’t word that very well.
He had tried his best to be as tactful as possible, but Lynn could clearly sense his dissatisfaction.
“Sorry I haven’t learned faster”.
“No, I’m not criticizing you. It’s just I think it’s been a waste of such a good opportunity. For example, didn’t you think to read up about the forest, or Magulheim, in your free time?”
“Well…”
Lately he was being hounded by Yuven, who kept interrupting his study rhythm, and he had to deal with the whole process of moving too. He didn’t have the time to look into anything.
However if he said that now, it would probably just sound like a weak excuse. Being bothered by a girl, and moving address, would anyone accept those two things as good enough reasons?
He decided to go for a different excuse altogether.
“The thing is I didn’t really have any time for that. I’ve been working in the factory”.
“You’ve been working? Don’t you have your scholarship for study expenses?”
“My scholarship covers study expenses, but for living costs I have to earn and pay my own way. I… I don’t have any parents who can help me financially”.
His face felt hot with embarrassment. He lowered his gaze.
“Really? Well then, in that case I suppose it can’t be helped…”
Teedro looked away, towards some place in the thicket. Lynn followed his gaze, but saw that there was nothing there. He simply didn’t want to look at him.
The two returned to the blue zone without any trouble, and from there set out for the second day’s camp site. It didn’t take them long to reach it.
Once they arrived Teedro said something about Magulheim office work, and that he had to go. He told Lynn what time the guild meeting would take place, and that until then he should kill some time.
Lynn chose to look around a bit to see if Illia was there, but he couldn’t find her anywhere. Eventually he spotted Elios and co’, and so spent his time chatting with them, all the while keeping one careful eye on the time.
Entirely uncaring of Lynn’s nervousness, their expedition into the yellow zone went on.
At approximate 50 metre intervals, Teedro made magic letter markings on the trees and rocks.
Whenever their rings began to glow, they would immediately be on guard and search for the threat. If the magical beast showed itself, Teedro would bring it down.
Lynn followed Teedro’s instructions perfectly, and so concerned himself only with shadowing Teedro, and trying to learn as much as he could from sole observation.
He lives up to his reputation.
Whether it was his gait, his form, his awareness of his surroundings, his combat skills, or his technique, each aspect of his abilities seemed flawless to Lynn.
I can even learn something from just watching him like this. It’s good reference.
For the time being he resolved to focus on paying attention to Teedro’s movement and form.
“Lynn, do you have any demands or requests?”
Lynn wracked his brain at the question, but couldn’t think of anything.
“No, not particularly”.
Shortly after that, Teedro killed another magical beast. This time it was a Grizurin, which was a bear type beast.
Taking just the strongest parts, such as the claws, he left the rest of the corpse alone and pressed onward.
For a while now they had been making their way deeper into the yellow zone in this manner. Teedro would slay a monster, and would bother to take only very carefully selected parts, that he would later make into items.
“Don’t you use little people? Wouldn’t you be able to carry more loot if you used them?”
“I have no need for them. No matter how you look at it, they slow you down. Besides, more importantly I want to increase the rate at which I encounter magical beasts”.
Before long the sun had climbed to its highest point in the sky. They stopped to rest and have lunch.
Teedro erected a small magical barrier around their immediate vicinity. This way, even if something came close, they would be in no danger.
*****
As they ate Teedro began talking casually.
“When I look at you, I’m reminded of when I was a beginner student.
“In the past, like you, I would focus only on paying attention in class and completing my assignments”.
Lynn titled his head as he listened.
“Are you saying that approach isn’t the best?”
“That’s right. It won’t get you far”, he said in a strong tone.
“What the teaching staff are really after isn’t the students’ growth or development, but order. For order, they don’t think twice about squashing an individual student’s talent. I also used to think that I’d do well as long as I listened to my teachers. But one day I was surpassed by someone who ignored the rules. Does the name ‘Dorias’ mean anything to you?”
“No, I can’t say that it does”.
“I see. Well, you should know. He’s one of my peers, and he’s a bit of a problem child, but make no mistake, he’s a prodigy. For some reason at the moment he’s on a kind of hiatus, but when he makes his return, it will be the talk of the entire tower”.
“Really?”
“When I first started exploring the forest, me and Dorias made it to the boundary between the blue and yellow zones. There we saw a magical beast that’s known as a ‘Komororan’. It’s a rare one. It’s said to be spotted only once every ten or so years. As a beast, it’s not particularly strong, but it has many jewels which can be used to craft magical items. If you slay one, you can bet that you’ll get your hands on countless rare items. So we found this rare beast at the boundary, but it went into the yellow zone, which we were forbidden from entering. It was just out of our reach. Naturally, I hesitated. It was dangerous, for one thing, but more than that, part of me resisted the idea of breaking the rules.
But Dorias… He set foot into the yellow zone without the slightest hesitation.
I tried to stop him. I tried to tell him that breaking the rules wasn’t wise. That he shouldn’t do such a risky thing. But he just sneered at me, and disappeared into the yellow zone”.
Teedro’s eyes seemed to look at a far away point as he remembered the conversation.
*****
“Don’t be stupid Dorias! It’s against the rules. It’s dangerous”.
“It’s ok. I’m strong enough for the yellow zone. I’ll be fine”.
“You’re going to get yourself in trouble”.
Dorias laughed, mockingly.
“That’s what you’re worried about?”
*****
“He’s a bad person, that Dorias”.
“No, he was right. In exchange for just a little punishment, he was able to gain a lot of power. I still regret that day, even now”.
His face really was full of regret. At first Lynn didn’t know what to say to him, but after a few moments he found the words.
“Hopefully, this time you’ll be able to steal a march on Dorias”.
Teedro laughed bitterly.
“Yeah. How wonderful it would be if I could do that…”
After they finished eating lunch, Teedro closed the barrier, and together they began retracing their steps, returning the way they had come.
By now, Lynn had lost most of the nervousness that he had harboured earlier. At lunch, he felt that they had broken down some kind of invisible barrier between them, and now it was much easier to relax. Even Teedro seemed to share the sentiment, as at this point he had begun to get a good impression of the young boy Lynn, who was so friendly.
“Lynn, I want to apologize to you. I’ve been too preoccupied with my own circumstances, I forget to think of you too. Maybe I should have been more considerate”.
“Oh- no, not at all”.
“On the way back, feel free to voice any wishes you may have. I’ve managed to fulfill some of my quota so we have some time. For example, maybe there’s a magical beast that you’ve heard about, and you’re interested in. Or an item that you’re after. If you have any wishes like that, don’t hold back. Tell me”.
He looked at Lynn expectantly. At this point he had more or less deduced that Lynn possessed no exceptionally great power, but at the very least he wanted him to show a little spirit.
“Thank you for being so considerate. But I’m more than happy just watching you. I’m already learning a lot”.
“I see…”
He made a troubled expression.
“Lynn. There’s something else as well. I wonder if inviting you to Magulheim was perhaps troubling for you?”
“Troubling? No, I- It hasn’t been troubling at all. I was glad. I’m getting to experience lots of really good things”.
“I see. As long as you say so. It doesn’t seem like you have much interest in magical beasts, the forest, or items, so I wondered if perhaps you were actively engaged with some kind of other activity, which is keeping your mind preoccupied. Are you participating in something outside of Magulheim?”
“No, nothing like that”.
“Is that so…”
Teedro fell silent, as if thinking carefully.
Maybe I didn’t word that very well.
He had tried his best to be as tactful as possible, but Lynn could clearly sense his dissatisfaction.
“Sorry I haven’t learned faster”.
“No, I’m not criticizing you. It’s just I think it’s been a waste of such a good opportunity. For example, didn’t you think to read up about the forest, or Magulheim, in your free time?”
“Well…”
Lately he was being hounded by Yuven, who kept interrupting his study rhythm, and he had to deal with the whole process of moving too. He didn’t have the time to look into anything.
However if he said that now, it would probably just sound like a weak excuse. Being bothered by a girl, and moving address, would anyone accept those two things as good enough reasons?
He decided to go for a different excuse altogether.
“The thing is I didn’t really have any time for that. I’ve been working in the factory”.
“You’ve been working? Don’t you have your scholarship for study expenses?”
“My scholarship covers study expenses, but for living costs I have to earn and pay my own way. I… I don’t have any parents who can help me financially”.
His face felt hot with embarrassment. He lowered his gaze.
“Really? Well then, in that case I suppose it can’t be helped…”
Teedro looked away, towards some place in the thicket. Lynn followed his gaze, but saw that there was nothing there. He simply didn’t want to look at him.
The two returned to the blue zone without any trouble, and from there set out for the second day’s camp site. It didn’t take them long to reach it.
Once they arrived Teedro said something about Magulheim office work, and that he had to go. He told Lynn what time the guild meeting would take place, and that until then he should kill some time.
Lynn chose to look around a bit to see if Illia was there, but he couldn’t find her anywhere. Eventually he spotted Elios and co’, and so spent his time chatting with them, all the while keeping one careful eye on the time.
