Vol 1: Chapter 2
「Urgh… my head hurts.」
What the hell am I doing while being a fugitive… It was dusk when I woke up. The only reason the soldiers didn’t find me during this time was pure luck. I shouldn’t be trying to test these kinds of things in my current situation.
However, there was something that I understood.
The difference between being able to use 【Wind Magic】 and 【Fire Magic】 was the presence of 【World Ruler】. I couldn’t use 【Wind Magic】 because I didn’t have 【World Ruler】 at the time I saw it, but I can use 【Fire Magic】 because I saw it after I got the skill.
However, the fatigue I felt when using 【Orb Detachment】 was completely different from the fatigue felt when activating 【Fire Magic】. The former made me feel tired, while the latter drained all my strength. I am not too sure why.
Maybe this had to do with the thing called mana. There were also skills called 【Mana Enhancement】.
「What should I do from now on?」
I was thinking of slipping into the town and getting a change of clothes first. I was now a “fugitive slave” in terms of status, so no matter who catches me – not just limited to soldiers – I would be in trouble. However, if I do not explicitly reveal that I am a “slave”, they will not be able to confirm my identity. And even if they did, I can just insist on being a “freed slave.”
As such, the biggest problem was clothes. People can recognize at a glance that I am a slave from my shabby clothes. I also have the tattoo on my left arm, but it wouldn’t be a problem if I just hide it with long sleeves. So I can leave the tattoo for later.
「Hmm. I have a bad feeling.」
There are probably soldiers stationed in the town neighbouring the mine and would be the first place to be alerted. In fact, I’d reckon a lot of the fugitive slaves had the same idea as me. So it’s better to think that several fights have already broken out in the city.
「Should I skip this town and go to the next one? But then there’s the problem of how to spend the night. Ahhh, I shouldn’t have tried to test my skill!」
It was inevitable, however. I had no money, no strength, and the only thing I could rely on for the time being was【World Ruler】. At this point, I should just be calling it World Ruler-sama.
After thinking and pondering for a while, I decided to spend the night here. Since the soldiers didn’t find me when I was sleeping like a log during daytime, it seems that they are not paying much attention to the paths from the mine to the town. Then again, they might’ve just not thought that someone would be sleeping so close to the town.
There shouldn’t be too many wild dogs being this close to the town… This was not just my wishful thinking, but also because World Ruler-sama said, “most likely”.
One night passed. Nothing happened.
「………」
I climbed down from a tree branch and rubbed my sleepy eyes. Nothing happened… but dogs were howling from everywhere.
Moreover, it was much darker in the forest than I had originally thought. I wanted to hit myself for deciding to enter a little further into the forest because I thought that I could be seen from the town.
The forest was pitch black. And because it was dark, I couldn’t even move to a different place. The only “light” in that darkness was the information from 【World Ruler】 that said, “This howl is just calling for a friend” or “That rustling was just a small animal”. But I don’t think I want to do that again.
I remembered the memories from the mine as I sat in the darkness. It was kind of hazy, but I recalled many things; the tunnels I explored with Lark, the various things taught by old man Hinga, etc.
「Lark… I wonder if you’re doing okay?」
Even having acquired a strong skill, she was still a child the same as me. But I have experience from Japan, so there’s that.
「I guess I should worry about myself for now.」
I looked around the perimeter of the town from a distance and moved around until I could see the highway. I saw a coach riding by, so it must be the highway. I wonder if that coach is carrying adventurers? As I was thinking about that, one of the adventurers looked in my direction. Even though I was hiding in the grass, he was looking straight at me. Cold sweat broke out, but the coach just rode away. Did that mean “I wouldn’t make a move if you don’t”?
Was that a skill that detects presence? Or was their eyes just that good?
「…If that was a skill, I should be able to copy it with 【World Ruler】, right?」
I stared at a tree growing in the distance. Then,
「I can see it!」
Is it a skill that enhances eyesight? Amazing! I can see each and every single leaf clearly!
「Oh shit!」
I had forgotten the recoil of fatigue caused by using 【World Ruler】! I braced myself, but there was no recoil. There is no recoil for something that improves the physical ability of the body, it seems.
That’s good, but I achieved this much efficiency simply by imitating. That means…
「That adventurer must’ve seen me as plain as day…」
I should be more careful.
I tested various things while walking through the grasslands along the highway. 【Sword Technique】 skills were demonstrated in the battle between the slaves and the soldiers, but it doesn’t feel like I can use it. I think it’s because I didn’t see it clearly with my own eyes. “Observation” is a necessary element of 【World Ruler】. When the 【Fire Magic】 was used, I had a firm look because our freedom hinged on whether it could destroy the wall.
And, although 【World Ruler】 produces an inferior copy of the original, it has a tremendous advantage in that it does not consume skill slots. According to old man Hinga, there are some sword masters who are proficient in “sword technique” even if they do not have the 【Sword Technique】 skill, and some people can use “fire magic” even if they do not have 【Fire Magic】 skill. He said that skills from skill orbs are more like a “shortcut” to using magic, mastering weapons, etc, but human beings originally have infinite potential.
Therefore, I think that I can unravel that potential through 【World Ruler】. If I can change this “distorted lens” into a “sharp lens”, I might be able to learn much more. Although, this is just a hypothesis.
「Even if I can’t copy skills perfectly at this stage… isn’t 【World Ruler】 an extremely broken skill?」
I started feeling some fear over the potential of the 10-star skill, but I refocused my mind.
「…More importantly than that, I have to think about survival for now.」
