Inferior Magic Swordsman: Using the Skill Board to Become the Strongest

Chapter 16 An Elf Girl Named Lily

When Toru opened the door, there was just a small counter in front of me.

There are only about two tatami mats of space where Toru can move. Instead, all the walls are filled with shelves overflowing with products with almost no space left. (T/N – 1 tatami is 3’ x 6’ or 0.91m x 1.82m)

On a shelf similar to bookstore’s, books that seemed to be for sale were lined up closely. The shelves with silver coin price tags on it are staggering in number and the books were arranged with the spines facing forward. On the other hand, the shelves with gold coin prices on it had the book with its cover facing forward. When Toru breathed the air, the smell of ink, paper, and wood was wafting through his nose.

"It's very calm. It looks like a good store..." (Toru)

It feels like you're in a small bookstore.

When Toru began to feel relaxed by the ambiance of the shop, the entrance door opened with a bang.

"Excuse me!" (Esther)

"Wait, that?" (Toru)

"Oh, didn’t expect to see you here Toru.” (Esther)

As Esther opened the door.

She pretends to have found him by chance, but the words are completely suspicious. She came here after predicting Toru's next action.

Did she notice that he left the inn? However, it was quick of her to notice.

How did she notice that Toru disappeared from the inn?

She might be worried about Toru, but Toru knows he would feel happy if she doesn't know where he is.

"I’m just asking, but why did Esther come here?" (Toru)

"Of course, it's decided because I also want to learn new magic." (Esther)

"Uhuh" (Toru)

When she says so, he can't deny it.

Toru accepts her excuse and asks.

"But Esther could use magic." (Toru)

“…” (Esther)

She suddenly has become quiet. Toru stared at Esther.

"That child can barely use magic. What did you come here for?" (Voice)

While Toru was asking Esther, a voice with little intonation came from the back of the counter.

When Toru turned around, there was a beautiful young girl who possesses surprising features.

Glossy dark brown hair with white bare skin. A girl in a green robe with sleepy eyes.

Also, the girl had sharp ears.

"Elf?" (Toru)

The little girl nodded at the murmuring of Toru.

Elf. It is a fictional race known as a long-lived species in Japan.

Hearing Toru's words, the sleepy eyes became drowsier.

As Toru was gazing at her ears, they began to flutter.

"……What?" (Elf)

"Oh sorry." (Toru)

Did Toru stare rudely at her? Toru immediately looked somewhere else.

"I wanted to use magic and after consulting with Esther I found out about this store. I wonder if you can teach me anything about magic." (Toru)

"...Yes. If so, hold out your hand first." (Elf)

The girl took out a black colored mat and a transparent ball from under the counter. The transparent ball is similar to the crystal I saw in the guild the other day.

"Is it a soul appraiser?" (Toru)

"No. This measures magical power. My magic tomes work perfectly. But without magical power, you can't use the magic within.” (Elf)

In her words, she was confident about her product but she wore an angry expression.

Perhaps someone with no magical power purchased a magic book and claimed that it was "defective" because the person could not use magic.

"I made him unable to say that again" (Elf)

“…” (Toru)

I heard the consequence of people who filed a complaint.

Toru trembled.

Esther brings her mouth close to Toru's ear and whispers.

"Because the elves are long-lived. She may look like this but Lily is incredibly strong." (Esther)

"She can be a bit too much though she looks like that" (Esther)

It should have gone from one ear then out to another.

The ears of the shopkeeper (known as Lily) suddenly twitched.

(After all, is an elf a long-lived species?) (Toru)

She looks younger than Toru. However, in the case of an elf, the appearance does not reflect the actual age.

She gives off a look of a girl who has never had much of life experience, but there is also the possibility that she is "an extremely old magician who has lived several times longer than Toru."

Toru swore in his heart to not touch the reverse scales of the dragon, in this case, Lily.

"What would happen when I touch it?" (Toru)

"If you have magical power, the ball will shine. Then you will know the attributes you have access to." (Lily)

Lily poked the black mat with her finger. Even while looking at the mat, it didn't seem to have any special tricks.

"What if the ball didn't glow?" (Toru)

"Goodbye" (Lily)

Lily suddenly pointed her finger from the mat towards the door.

Toru laughed at her direct attitude.

Toru is a lost person and called an “inferior” in Eargard.

Even if he put his hand on the crystal, a sad future where it won’t light up may be waiting.

"... okay!" (Toru)

Determined, Toru put his hand on the crystal.

When I placed my hand, a dim white light began to emit from inside the crystal.

"Oh, I got it!" (Toru)

"You did it, Toru!" (Esther)

Esther peeked out from behind and shouted out loud.

The light slowly filled the crystal.

When the crystal was filled with white light, the same color of light then appeared on the black mat.

The light traveled through the mat from the bottom of the crystal and drew a magic circle and other circles. The light grew from the circle in all directions, creating a small magical square.

"This can’t be real..." (Lily)

After seeing the magical square, Lily shouted out loud. Toru was worried about her appearance, but Toru couldn't take her eyes off the fantastic light emerging from the mat.

The light eventually extended the line to connect the small magic square.

And when all were connected, the curves connected so did all the outer circles.

It was about 10 seconds so far. In Toru's life, those ten seconds can be the best or second-best 10 seconds of his life.

"When the light forms, it means I can use magic, right?" (Toru)

"……wait" (Lily)

Lily slapped Toru's hand and quickly put back the crystal and mat from under the counter.

She was working diligently under the counter, but Toru can't see what she doing from his current position.

"......Normal. But it's strange. All attributes – ‘Nonet’. That can’t be!" (Lily)

Lily raised her upper body before long,

"Broken" (Lily)

She muttered with a suddenly refreshed look that came from nowhere.

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?

"Well, did I break it?" (Toru)

"Do not worry" (Lily)

"No, but..." (Toru)

"You were just unlucky. It broke on you. Deterioration due to age." (Lily)

"Oh, is that right? But I should probably pay for it..." (Toru)

"Okay. Just buy a lot of items." (Lily)

Lily pointed around the entire shelf. Toru got permission to buy the products from her.

"Is it okay for me to use magic?" (Toru)

"Hmm" (Lily)

"Oh!" (Toru)

"However, it is unknown how much you can use. If it does not activate, I will not accept complaints." (Lily)

In other words, the use of magic is unpredictable. However, no one in every world knows what they can do from the beginning. Everything begins with trial and error.

Toru acknowledges Lily’s words and immediately inspects the product shelves.

"Lily permitted you to buy from all the shelves. Toru is amazing." (Esther)

"Um, can we usually buy anything if we have magical power?" (Toru)

"Even if you have magical powers, you can only purchase items with the proper attributes. For example, I can only buy non-attribute items, so I can only buy items only on from shelf." (Esther)

"Oh, Esther can only use non-elemental magic." (Toru)

"That's ok. However, unlike the others, non-attribute is magic that specializes in self-strengthening. It looks pretty plain." (Esther)

"But self-strengthening is an attribute that can be applied in a variety of ways." (Toru)

Toru squinted at the shelf with non-attribute items.

There is no magical technique that looks flashy, such as < Muscle Strength Enhancement > < Olfaction Enhancement > < Auditory Enhancement > < Vision Enhancement > < Palate Enhancement >. However, if you fight with your sword in your hand, all these magic was useful.

Of course, it's also useful for classes other than swordsmen. < Vision Enhancement > and < Auditory Enhancement > can be some necessary skills for Scouts.

Toru picked up four tomes: < muscle strength enhancement >, < auditory enhancement >, < visual enhancement >, and < olfactory enhancement >, those could be used in battle.

There are eight types of magic other than non-attribute: fire, water, earth, wind, light, darkness, spirit, and space.

The cheapest ones are 5 silver coins. < Ignition >, < Water supply >, < Drying >, and other magic tomes that can be used in everyday life.

First of all, Toru picked up the “Ignition”, “Water supply”, and “Drying” from life magic.

Next, he picked "Fireball", "Water ball", "Earth Needle", and "Air Cutter", which are relatively inexpensive among the magic used in battle.

Looking at the shelves with four basic attributes, Toru noticed high-priced items at a high position.

"< Flare >! The price is --!" (Toru)

Seeing the price, Toru’s eyes almost fell from his sockets.

10 gold coins. It's quite a high price.

"Is this "flare" spell strong after all?" (Toru)

"< Flare > is advanced magic. Beginners lack magical power and cannot be used by them." (Lily)

"……I see" (Toru)

Strong magic cannot be so easily obtained.

Toru was quite interested, but he gave up on buying Flare.

From magic other than the 4 attributes, from the light attribute, < light > and the dark attribute, < blind > on the counter.

There was only one item for spirit and space magic.

Spirit magic is < spirit evocation >. Spatial magic is < spatial fracture >. Each is displayed in a frame.

The name was so cool that Toru thought of buying it, but the price for each is 100 gold coins!

It is doubtful if it sells due to the extremely high price.

The total magic that Toru decided to purchase was 10,000 gardes.

Paying one gold coin, Toru immediately asked Lily how to use the magic book.

"Activate magic by pouring in mana. Once activated, magic is engraved in your soul." (Lily)

"Can you use it without this magic book?" (Toru)

"Yes. After use, the magic book disappears. Reselling is not possible." (Lily)

"Oh, I see. Thank you for today. If there is anything, I will come back to buy some." (Toru)

"Hmm" (Lily)

To thank Lily, Toru left the store quickly.

"Toru are you going to learn magic from now on?" (Esther)

"Yeah. What about Esther?" (Toru)

"It's just free time. I want to go see Toru use magic." (Esther)

"No, go to work." (Toru)

"Today is a holiday!" (Esther)

"Fine." (Toru)

No matter how he refuses, there is always a follow-up.

Esther already has non-attribute magic. Then, if he has any problems with using magic, she may help him.

○

Lily, the store manager, was worried about the inside of the magic book shop.

It was her first time to see "Nonet", which has a talent for all nine attributes, over the past 100 years.

Even Lily, who is confident in magic, is only a quintet with five attributes. Moreover, one of them was an attribute that can be developed over a long time.

"What is that boy?" (Lily)

Most of the human beings who have a skill in magic become "duo" with two attributes.

Esther who came to this store is a "solo" with only one attribute. Although she can do magic, she is said to have no attribute.

Among those who have magical knowledge, one in 10,000 people is a "trio" with three attributes, and one in 100,000 people is a "quartet" with four attributes.

When it comes to the five attributes "Quintet", it is less than 0.1% of the total magician population.

Up to now, Lily has the largest number of attributes known to have six attributes, sextet, and there is only one person in the world.

That person is Lily’s mentor and is name the Great Sage of the Forest.

The boy called Toru had three more attributes than Lily’s mentor.

Furthermore, Lily has never heard of having both light and dark attributes. Those two attributes clash with each other.

"But it is unknown how much magic he can use..." (Lily)

No matter how much magic one has, not all magic can be handled to a usable level.

Even if magic is compatible, it may be usable or not depending on the discipline, level, and amount of magic.

The most important thing is comprehension and image.

No matter how much training, leveling up, and enormous magical power, if the comprehension and image are rough, even if it activates, it is not possible to invoke the full effect of the spell.

"I'm looking forward to what happens in the future" (Lily)

However, his branches are still young. How he grows in the future is unknown.

(If you want to look into the abyss of magic...) (Lily)

“Yes, at that time, let's look into the abyss together”, Lily smiled.

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